Lions manager not letting guard down despite taking commanding Korean Series lead

By Yoo Jee-ho

DAEGU, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- Even as the Samsung Lions built a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Korean Series on Saturday, manager Park Jin-man said this was no time to relax.

The Lions defeated the KT Wiz 10-5 in Game 4 at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu on Saturday. They will clinch their first championship since 2014 with a victory in Sunday's Game 5, also in Daegu.

The Lions have won three straight games, and looked quite convincing in taking the past two games at home. Other than rallying for three runs in the fifth inning Saturday, the Wiz have appeared mostly lifeless in the past two contests.

But Park insisted the job is not done until the fourth win is in the books.

"We are getting close but in the postseason, one game can be a turning point and then you never know what can happen after that," Park said. "We are not going to let our guard down. We will do our best to finish the series tomorrow."

To that end, Park said he will take an all-hands-on-deck approach with his bullpen usage, though he fell short of announcing his starting pitchers Chris Paddack, who threw Wednesday, and Ariel Jurado, who won Friday's game, will also be available.

In Saturday's win, Park Seung-kyu went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs, but the manager said reliever Lee Jae-hee was the MVP of the game.

With the Lions up 7-1, the Wiz rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth inning, as relievers Satoshi Miyamori and Bae Chan-seung gave up a hit and five walks. Lee Jae-hee came on with one out and bases loaded, and retired the next two batters on seven straight fastballs to put out the fire.

"The pendulum could have swung the other way in that moment," manager Park said. "Lee Jae-hee snuffed out that rally and it gave us a chance to tack on some runs later on."

Park Seung-kyu has been a breakout star of this postseason. In the previous series, the 26-year-old batted .294 and drove in five runs in five games. He is now batting .500 in the Korean Series, with six hits in 12 at-bats, and is slugging at a ridiculous .833 clip.

"He is playing out of his mind," manager Park said with a smile. "You always need someone to go off like that in the postseason. He is swinging the bat so well, and his wild celebrations on the bases fire up the entire team."

The Wiz scored first in the top first before allowing six runs in the bottom half of that inning. Manager Lee Kang-chul said his starting pitcher, Logan Allen, was trying to be too careful against the middle of the opposing lineup and it proved costly.

"I think he should have been more aggressive. He was trying not to give up any run and ended up allowing several," Lee said. "On offense, we had a chance to get closer in the fifth inning but couldn't capitalize."

The Wiz pitchers issued nine walks Saturday and have walked 21 batters in four games this series. They allowed the fewest walks in the regular season with 451 in 144 games.

"I just think the pitchers are lacking confidence at this point," Lee said. "This is all on me."