Lions manager sings praises of ace after latest postseason masterpiece

By Yoo Jee-ho

DAEGU, Nov. 6 (Yonhap) -- After his ace Ariel Jurado submitted yet another fine postseason outing Friday night in the South Korean baseball championship series, Samsung Lions manager Park Jin-man marveled at the pitcher's durability and efficiency.

Jurado tossed seven innings and gave up just one run to help the Lions beat the KT Wiz 5-1 in Game 3 of the Korean Series at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu. The Lions now lead this best-of-seven championships showdown 2-1.

Jurado pitched into the seventh inning in all three postseason starts this fall.

"He just makes life so easy for me to run the bullpen in late innings," Park said. "I think I will have to get him some present after the season."

Jurado had a shaky start, giving up two doubles and a run in the first inning. He didn't give up any more runs after that but his pitch count ran a bit higher than usual for him, with 61 through three innings.

But he sat at 93 after six innings, and came back out for the seventh -- this after taking a batted ball on his pitching hand in the previous inning.

"With his pitch count, I thought he could only get us six innings, but apparently, he still had more left in his tank," Park said. "I was worried about the hand but he told me he could go another inning," Park said. "And deep inside, I was hoping he could keep going as well."

The Lions dropped the first game 8-7, after rallying from an 8-0 deficit. They then won the next game 3-2 in a 12-inning thriller, and seemed to be riding high from that dramatic win during their first home game of the series Friday.

"I think our players compete with more confidence at home," said Park, whose team will play two more games in Daegu the next two days. "Hopefully, we can continue to pile up wins here."

Park said the 19-year-old rookie Jang Chan-hee will start Saturday's Game 4. Jang made his postseason debut in Game 1, when he was charged with two earned runs in two innings and gave up a home run.

"Even though he is young, he still threw with confidence on the mound, and he has some experience as a starter," Park said. "Because Jurado covered seven innings today, he saved our bullpen. It would be nice if Chan-hee can pitch deep into the game, but if not, our relievers will be ready to go."

Lee Kang-chul, the losing manager, conceded defeat in the face of Jurado's superb pitching.

"He just didn't make mistakes today," Lee said. "It is not that we hit poorly. He just pitched a great game."

Lee also lamented a shaky early stretch by his starter So Hyeong-jun, who issued five walks in the first two innings but then threw four perfect innings.

So never allowed more than two walks in any regular-season game this year.

"So Hyeong-jun hardly walks anyone but he had problems in the early going for some reason," Lee said. "We failed to grab the early momentum and never recovered."