The Doosan Bears defeated the Samsung Lions 6-1 to even the South Korean baseball championship final at one game apiece on Tuesday.
Right-hander Dustin Nippert tossed seven shutout innings to extend his scoreless streak this postseason to 24 innings, as the Bears went out in front and stayed there in Game 2 of the Korean Series on the road at Daegu Stadium in Daegu, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
The series will move to the Bears‘ home, Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, for three games starting Thursday.
The Bears blew a 5-0 lead to lose Game 1 by 9-8, but there was no such squandering this time, with Nippert giving up only three hits and striking out five, and No. 3 hitter Min Byung-hun knocking in three runs.
The game shaped up to be a pitching duel between Nippert and Samsung’s lefty starter Jang Won-sam, who matched his counterpart pitch for pitch through four innings.
He didn‘t allow a runner past first base until one out in the fifth, when Oh Jae-won hit a double to right.
It was the first extra-base hit by either side, and it opened the flood gates for the Bears, who added five more hits in the inning to open up a 4-0 lead.
After his double, Oh moved to third on a fly out by Deibinson Romero, and then came home on a Kim Jae-ho single for a 1-0 lead.
Hur Kyoung-min and Park Kun-woo then hit back-to-back singles to load the bases. Min Byung-hun, who was 6-for-12 with the bases full during the regular season, delivered a soft single to right to make it 3-0 Bears.
Cleanup Kim Hyun-soo then picked up the Bears’ fifth straight hit of the inning, an RBI single to right to stake Doosan to a 4-0 lead.
Nippert wiggled his way out of his first jam in the bottom third. With one out, he walked Kim Sang-su, who stole second and moved to third on a throwing error by catcher Yang Eui-ji.
Nippert didn‘t blink, striking out the next two batters to escape the inning unscathed.
The Lions put a leadoff man on for the first time in the fifth, when Lee Seung-yuop hit a single to left. Nippert promptly retired Chae Tae-in on a fly out to left and got Lee Ji-young to hit a 6-3 inning-ending double play.
The bottom sixth was nearly a carbon copy for Nippert. After a two-out single, Park Hae-min stole second and advanced to third when Yang made another poor throw to second that skipped into the center field.
Nippert then stared down Yamaico Navarro for eight pitches, before the slugger flied out to left to end the inning.
Not that Nippert needed it, but the Bears gave him a bit more breathing room in the top seventh.
Shim Chang-min, the Lions’ second pitcher, hit Kim Jae-ho to start the inning. When Hur Kyoung-min put down a bunt back to the pitcher, Shim went to second when Kim was already near the bag.
With both runners safe, Park Kun-woo drew a walk to load the bases.
Min, coming up with the bases loaded for the second time on the night, hit a sacrifice fly to right for a 5-0 cushion.
It was plenty for Nippert, who worked around a one-out walk in the seventh before handing it over to the bullpen.
Nippert, touching 151 kilometers per hour (93.8 miles per hour) with his fastball, made 92 pitches, 64 for strikes.
The Bears went up 6-0 on Hur Kyoung-min‘s RBI single in the eighth. The Lions barely avoided getting blanked in the bottom ninth, as Lee Seung-yuop’s chopper back to the mound drove home their only run of the night.
Shortstop Kim Jae-ho made solid plays on defense and went
2-for-2 with two runs scored at the plate. Hur Kyoung-min, who went
4-for-4 Monday, added two more hits Tuesday as the new leadoff man, in place of the injured Jung Soo-bin.
The heart of the Lions‘ order, Navarro, Choi Hyoung-woo and Park Sok-min, 2-for-11 with no RBIs. (Yonhap)
