The Samsung Lions blasted two home runs and scored late runs to defeat the Kia Tigers 6-4 and move within a win of reaching the South Korean baseball championship series.
Lewin Diaz and Ryu Ji-hyuk each smoked two-run homers, while Park Seung-kyu and Koo Ja-wook delivered RBI hits in the seventh inning to break a 4-4 tie in Game 3 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju.
The Lions now lead this best-of-five series 2-1. They can close out the Tigers with a win in Game 4 at 6:30 p.m. Friday and punch their ticket to the Korean Series.
The Tigers also slugged two home runs, but their starter Keisho Shirakawa and eight relievers that followed could not hold up their end of the bargain.
For the Lions, starter Choi Won-tae lasted only 1 2/3 innings after allowing two runs, but the five relievers limited the damage to two runs over the final 7 1/3 frames.
The Lions wasted little time landing the first punch before a sellout crowd of 18,900, with Diaz slugging a two-run home run off Shirakawa in the top of the first.
With two outs, Shirakawa struck out Koo Ja-wook swinging on a forkball in the dirt, but Koo took first base as the ball bounced away from catcher Kim Tae-gun. That kept the inning going for Diaz, who turned on a chest-high fastball for his second home run of this series.
The Tigers responded with a couple of jabs in the bottom of the second to tie the score at 2-2. With two outs in the inning, Kim Tae-gun and Ha Ju-suk each delivered an RBI single off starter Choi Won-tae.
That second hit knocked Choi out of the game, and left-handed reliever Bae Chan-seung put out the fire by striking out Park Jae-hyun to end the inning.
The Tigers grabbed the lead in the third against Bae, as Kim Do-yeong flexed opposite field power to launch a solo home run that traveled 115 meters to right field.
It was Kim's first home run of this series and his fourth in his sixth postseason game this year.
The Lions then battled right back with a home run of their own in the fifth, with No. 8 hitter Ryu Ji-hyuk putting the Lions up 4-3 with a two-run blast off Shirakawa -- his first career postseason homer in his 39th game.
Shirakawa got the hook after walking the next batter, Lee Jae-hyeon, and the battle of the bullpens ensued.
For the Lions, Won Tae-in, a career starter who has been moved to the bullpen for this series, took the mound to begin the bottom of the sixth, and Na Sung-bum greeted him with a solo homer that tied the score at 4-4.
The Lions then went ahead for good in the seventh.
With two outs and a runner at second, Park Seung-kyu sent a double to deep right-center field against reliever Cho Sang-woo for a 5-4 lead.
With the left-handed Koo Ja-wook due up, the Tigers summoned southpaw reliever Lee Eui-lee from the bullpen. But Lee allowed an RBI single to Koo, as the Lions extended their lead to 6-4.
The Lions' bullpen did the rest.
Won got the first two outs of the seventh before left-hander Lee Seung-min, after a single by Kim Do-yeong, got Harold Castro to fly out to center to end the frame.
Lee worked a scoreless eighth by erasing a one-out walk with a double play.
Kim Tae-hoon came on to close out the win, but after getting two outs, the right-hander gave up a single and a walk to bring the go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Kim Do-yeong.
Satoshi Miyamori took the mound, and Kim swung on the first pitch for a fielder's choice groundout that ended the Tigers' final rally.
