Wyverns defeat Lions to tie series

The SK Wyverns’ Park Jae-sang smiles after hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning in the best-of-seven Korean Series against the Samsung Lions at Munhak Stadium in Incheon, Monday. The Wyverns beat the Lions 4-1.

By Jung Min-ho

The Korean Series went back to square one Monday, after the SK Wyverns beat the defending champions the Samsung Lions 4-1 in Game 4 to sweep their home games following two losses in Daegu.

At Munhak Stadium, Park Jae-sang and Choi Jeong blasted back-to-back homers in the bottom of the fourth inning and the bullpen kept the Lions’ hitters to only two hits in the last four innings to the delight of 27,600 fans. The score in the best-of-seven series crown is even 2-2. After being dominated in the first two games, the Incheon-based team came out stronger with more precise hits and nearly perfect pitching in the fourth match, following a come-from-behind victory in the third Sunday.

“We are gaining momentum with the second victory. The players really wanted to win. I felt like I was at the edge of a cliff, but now I feel stable and confident,” Wyverns manager Lee Man-soo said. “When I saw Kim Kwang-hyun’s pitching, I became certain of our victory.”

The Lions' starter Mitch Talbot’s pitching seemed stable as he struck out five giving up just one ball in three innings. But, when Park cleared the right fence to open the score, Talbot started collapsing quickly allowing another run by follow-up hitter Choi over the left fence.

With two outs, Kim Kang-min hit to add another run before the end of the fourth inning. The Lions got one run back in the top of the sixth on Choi Hyung-woo's sacrifice fly, but, with two outs, Cho Dong-chan failed to capitalize on two runners on first and second. The Wyverns made it 4-1 in the seventh thanks to Cho In-sung who hit a sacrifice fly.

The fifth game will be held at the Jamsil Baseball Stadium at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The two rivals also met in the last two Korean Series. The Lions won the 2011 title after the Wyverns claimed the crown in 2010.

Wyverns’ starter Kim Kwang-hyun clinched the victory with decent pitching for five innings, allowing a run, six hits and striking out four. Jung Woo-ram earned the save.

“Now the game is back to square one. We will take a rest tomorrow and come up with a winning strategy for the next game,” Lee said.

According to Korea Baseball Organization regulations to boost ticket sales, if a team with the home field advantage in the Korean Series plays in a stadium with a capacity of less than 25,000, Games 5, 6 and 7 will be held at Jamsil, which has 27,000 seats.