Lions holding edge in Korean Series bullpen battle despite missing star closer

Before the Korean Series started this week, it appeared as though the KT Wiz would have an advantage in the battle of the bullpens over the Samsung Lions. After all, the Wiz boasted their All-Star closer Park Yeong-hyun, who finished third in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) with 30 saves in the regular season. The Lions, on the other hand, were without their own All-Star closer Kim Jae-yoon, who led the league with 35 saves but was ruled out of the postseason in October due to an upper body injury.

Also working in the Wiz's favor was that their pitchers would be well rested for the Korean Series because the team earned a bye to the championship round by virtue of finishing first in the regular season. The Korean Series started three weeks after their last regular-season game.

The Lions, as the No. 2 seed, had to play an extra round in the postseason, and they battled the Kia Tigers to the full five games last week to earn their ticket to the Korean Series.

In the first two games of the Korean Series, though, the Lions have had better performances from their relievers than the Wiz.

In Tuesday's Game 1, the Wiz nearly blew an 8-0 lead and escaped with an 8-7 victory. Starter Davis Daniel gave up a two-run home run in the top of the seventh and then the bullpen let one inherited runner score before coughing up four more runs the rest of the game. Park had to get five outs to lock down the nervy win.

For the Lions, starter Choi Won-tae was charged with five runs in two innings in that game. But the six relievers that came after Choi held the Wiz to three runs over the next six frames, keeping the Lions in the game.

The Lions won the second game Wednesday by the score of 3-2 in 12 innings, using just four relievers after starter Chris Paddack gave them seven innings. The Wiz also got seven quality innings from their starter Ko Young-pyo but then needed seven relievers to get the final 15 outs.

Park had to get five outs for the second straight day, with manager Lee Kang-chul trusting only one other reliever, submarine pitcher Kim Jeong-woon, to cover multiple innings.

In both games, Wiz setup man Son Dong-hyun was pulled in the middle of an at-bat. Left-handed starter Logan Allen was moved to the bullpen for Game 1 with the Wiz lacking a viable lefty option to handle left-handed threats in the Lions' lineup. But that experiment lasted just that one game after Allen was charged with two runs on two hits and retired just one out of three batters he faced. He was sent back to the rotation and will start Saturday's Game 4.

In two games, the Wiz's bullpen has a 5.63 ERA, with five earned runs in eight innings. Take out Park's 3 1/3 scoreless innings from that equation, and the rest of the bullpen has a 9.64 ERA.

The Lions' bullpen has a 2.45 ERA across 11 innings. Six of their eight relievers who have made an appearance in the series have not been charged with an earned run.

The list includes left-hander Lee Seung-min, who pitched in all five games of the Tigers series and tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings Wednesday.

With Kim Jae-yoon not available, manager Park Jin-man turned veteran starter Won Tae-in into an all-purpose bullpen piece. He tossed 3 2/3 innings and gave up one run in the previous series and gave up one unearned run in 1 2/3 innings Wednesday. Won is expected to return to the rotation and start either Game 4 on Saturday or Game 5 on Sunday.

After Wednesday's win, manager Park was also effusive in his praise of the 20-year-old left-hander Bae Chan-seung, who threw a shutout inning in each of the two Korean Series games. In the second game, he struck out two batters and pitched around a walk in the bottom of the 12th to earn his first career postseason save.

The next three games will likely be a war of attrition, as the teams will play an evening game Friday followed by two straight afternoon games Saturday and Sunday.

The Wiz will need their relievers to find their groove, while the Lions will seek continued excellence from their bullpen arms.