The Doosan Bears advanced to their second championship final in three seasons in South Korean baseball on Saturday.
Powered by a five-run fifth, the Bears came from behind to defeat the NC Dinos 6-4 on the road at Masan Stadium in Changwon, South Korea, taking their best-of-five Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) playoff series 3-2.
They will go on to face the Samsung Lions in the Korean Series in a rematch of the 2013 showdown. The Lions earned the bye to the Korean Series after finishing with the best record in the regular season.
The Korean Series will start at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Daegu Stadium in Daegu, the Lions' home some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
In 2013, the Bears held a 3-1 series lead before the Lions roared back to win three straight games and capture their third straight championship.
The Dinos scored first in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Lee Ho-jun. With two outs in the frame, Na Sung-bum and Eric Thames reached on back-to-back singles, and Lee got the third hit in a row off Doosan starter Jang Won-jun for the game's first run.
The Dinos went up 2-0 in the bottom second on Park Min-woo's two-out single to right.
NC starter Zach Stewart, who'd tossed a complete game victory in Game 2 Monday, worked out of a jam in the third. Oh Jae-won had a leadoff double and moved to third on a flyout to center. Then on a chopper to short, Oh was gunned down at home by Son Si-heon.
Jung Soo-bin singled up the middle to keep the inning alive, moving Kim Jae-ho from first to third. Jung stole second as the Bears put two men in scoring position, but Hur Kyoung-min grounded out to short to waste the opportunity.
The Bears' offense finally came to life in the fourth, as Yang Eui-ji, playing with a broken right big toe, hit a solo shot with two outs in the fourth to slash the Dinos' lead in half.
The floodgates then opened in the fifth, as the Bears batted around and put up a five-spot to take a 6-2 lead.
Kim Jae-ho led off the fateful inning with a double off Stewart, and Jung Soo-bin followed that up with a double of his own to tie the game at 2-2. After a single and a walk loaded the bases, cleanup Kim Hyun-soo launched a double off the right field wall to drive in two runs and put the Bears ahead 4-2.
The hit chased Stewart from the game. Reliever Lee Min-ho promptly gave up a sacrifice fly to Yang, making it 5-2 Bears.
A hit-by-pitch and another walk loaded the bases again for the Bears, and Oh Jae-il's groundout to second gave the Bears a four-run cushion.
The Dinos tried to make things more interesting, with Na Sung-bum's RBI double in the fifth and Ji Seok-hun's solo home run in the sixth.
The Dinos, though, came up empty in late inning rallies.
Kim Jong-ho drew a leadoff walk in the seventh in an 11-pitch at-bat against Jang, chasing the Doosan starter from the game. Closer Lee Hyun-seung was summoned and he took care of the Dinos' heart of the lineup, as No. 3 Na popped out to catcher, cleanup Thames struck out swinging and No. 5 hitter Lee Ho-jun flied out to center.
In the bottom eighth, Son Si-heon reached with a one-out double, but was stranded there after a flyout and a groundout.
Jang Won-jun earned the victory after allowing four runs on nine hits in six innings. Lee Hyun-seung earned a three-inning save, allowing just one hit over the final three frames.
Stewart lasted just four innings in the loss, giving up six earned runs on eight hits and three walks.
NC right fielder Na Sung-bum made a relief appearance with two outs in the top of the ninth. The former collegiate pitcher, who'd made headlines in the run-up to the series against the Bears by pitching in an intrasquad game, gave up a single to Deibinson Romero but retired Oh Jae-won on a grounder to third. (Yonhap)