Lotte Giants edge Doosan Bears to take commanding lead in baseball playoff

Lotte Giants edge Doosan Bears to take commanding lead in baseball playoff

SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- The Lotte Giants defeated the Doosan Bears 2-1 on Tuesday to take a commanding 2-0 series lead in the opening round of the playoffs in South Korea's top professional baseball league.

In the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) action at Jamsil Stadium here, backup catcher Yong Deok-han hit a go-ahead solo home run in the top ninth for the Giants' second straight come-from-behind victory in this best-of-five series.

On Monday, the Giants came back from a 5-3 deficit to win 8-5 in 10 innings. They now sit one win away from advancing to the second round.

Yong only got the starting nod after starting catcher Kang Min-ho injured his left eye in Monday's game. A throw from center took a big hop in front of Kang as he prepared to tag a runner and nailed him in the face.

Yong, 31, made the most of his opportunity as he drilled a high fastball from reliever Hong Sang-sam over the left field wall.

Hong also gave up a game-tying, two-run home run to Park Joon-seo in Monday's game.

Wednesday will be the travel day for the teams, as the series moves to Lotte's home in Busan, some 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The third game is at 6 p.m. Thursday at Sajik Stadium and the fourth game, if necessary, is Friday at 6 p.m.

The Bears wasted little time getting on board, as Kim Hyun-soo hit a run-scoring single off starter Shane Youman in the bottom first.

Youman gave up three hits to the first five batters he faced in the game, but settled down to retire 11 of the next 12 Doosan hitters.

Noh Kyung-eun, starter for the Giants, was even more effective, holding the Giants to just three singles through six innings. In the top fourth, Noh shook off a hard comebacker that went off his right thigh for an infield single.

The Giants finally solved Noh in the top seventh with three straight one-out singles, capped off by Moon Kyu-hyun's RBI hit to left center.

They couldn't capitalize on the bases-loaded chance that followed, however, as reliever Hong Sang-sam got Cho Sung-hwan to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Just when it seemed the teams were heading for their second extra-inning game in a row, Yong, who played six seasons for Doosan before getting traded to Lotte in June, took Hong deep for his first career playoff home run.

Yong had just four home runs in 359 regular season games in his career.

The Bears blew their final chance in the bottom of the ninth.

After Kim Hyun-soo led off the inning with a single, Yun Seok-min botched a sacrifice bunt attempt and the Giants infield turned it into a 5-6-3 double play.

Chong Tae-hyon, Lotte's fifth pitcher, got the final three outs to earn his second save in as many days.

Youman pitched six innings, giving up six hits and a run. Kang Young-sik earned the victory in relief.

Noh threw 6 1/3 innings for Doosan and allowed one earned run on six hits and three walks. Hong took the loss with Yong's homer.

Lotte's bottom three hitters came through, as Hwang Jae-gyun, Yong and Moon Kyu-hyun went a combined 6-for-12 with two RBI and two runs scored.

For the Bears, Kim Hyun-soo went 3-for-4 in the losing cause.

On Thursday, the Giants will send right-hander Ryan Sadowski to the mound to start the third game. The Bears' starter will be Lee Yong-chan.

Sadowski went 1-0 against the Bears in the regular season with a 2.18 ERA. He struck out 11 in 20 2/3 innings against them. Lee was 1-1 against Lotte during the season with a 1.07 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings.

In the KBO, the regular season champion earns a bye to the championship Korean Series. The No. 3 and the No. 4 teams play in the first round, with the winner going on to meet the No. 2 regular season club in the second round, which is also best-of-five.

The Samsung Lions, defending champions, finished first for the second straight regular season and have reached the Korean Series.

The SK Wyverns, seeded second, are awaiting the winner of the Bears-Giants series in the next round.

출처: 코리아헤럴드 닷컴

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Giants capitalize on Scott Rolen error in 10th to stave off elimination

CINCINNATI -- Joaquin Arias hit a grounder toward third base and took off toward first, covering those 90 feet in a blink as a full-to-capacity ballpark went silent with angst.

Which would get there first, the infielder or the ball? Who would win the decisive playoff dash?

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• Stats & Info: Giants pull out win

"That's the fastest I've ever run to first," Arias said.

Fast enough to extend the San Francisco Giants' season one more day.

Reds third baseman Scott Rolen bobbled the short-hop, giving Arias enough time to beat the throw as the go-ahead run scored for a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night that avoided an NL Division Series sweep.

Hardly able to get a hit the past two games, the Giants turned a passed ball and a misplayed grounder into a win that cut their series deficit to 2-1 and extended Cincinnati's 17 years of home postseason futility.

"These are the type of games we've played all season long," said Sergio Romo, who pitched the last two innings for the win. "We are a gritty-and-grinding team."

And, with their season on the line, a little lucky, too.

"We got a break there at the end," manager Bruce Bochy said.

Left-hander Barry Zito will pitch Game 4 on Wednesday for the Giants, who have won the last 11 times he started. The Reds have to decide whether to try ace Johnny Cueto, forced out of the opener in San Francisco on Saturday with spasms in his back and side.

Manager Dusty Baker said after the game that they hadn't decided whether to let Cueto pitch, bring back Mat Latos on short rest again, or replace Cueto with Mike Leake, who wasn't on the NLDS roster.

Switching out Cueto would leave the Reds ace ineligible to pitch in the championship series should the Reds get that far.

"It's very difficult, but it all depends on if your ace can't go or whatever it is," Baker said. "That's part of the conversation -- us going without him. We realize what's at stake."

They were hoping to avoid having to make that choice. One grounder forced the issue.

The Giants managed only three hits against Homer Bailey and Cincinnati's bullpen, but got two of them in the 10th -- along with a passed ball by Ryan Hanigan -- to pull it out. San Francisco won despite striking out 16 times.

Rolen, an eight-time Gold-Glove winner, couldn't cleanly come up with Arias' grounder, which put him in a tough position.

"I've gone through the play many times in my mind between then and now, and I think I would play it the same way," Rolen said. "It hit my glove. I just couldn't get it to stick."

The Reds haven't won a home playoff game since 1995, the last time they reached the NLCS. One win away from making it back there, they couldn't beat a Giants team that barley has been able to get a hit.

San Francisco got only two hits while losing 9-0 on Sunday night, setting up that 2-0 deficit in the series. The Giants had only one single in seven innings off Homer Bailey, making his first start at Great American Ball Park since his Sept. 28 no-hitter in Pittsburgh.

Fortunately for the Giants, Bailey's one lapse led to a run. He hit a batter, walked another and gave up a sacrifice fly by Angel Pagan in the third inning.

That was it until the 10th, with the Giants going down swinging -- the Reds set a season high with 16 strikeouts. Closer Aroldis Chapman got a pair of strikeouts on 100-mph fastballs during a perfect ninth inning, keeping it tied 1-1.

San Francisco's one-hit wonders finally got it going against Jonathan Broxton, who gave up leadoff singles by Buster Posey -- the NL batting champion -- and Hunter Pence, who pulled his left calf on a wild swing before getting his hit.

With two outs, Hanigan couldn't come up with a pitch, letting the runners advance. Moments later, Cincinnati's chance for a sweep was over.

Instead, a Reds team that lost a lot -- closer Ryan Madson in spring training, top hitter Joey Votto for six weeks at midseason, Baker for the NL Central clincher, Cueto in the first inning of the first playoff game -- ended up with another playoff loss at home.

Baker was back in the home dugout at Great American for the first time in nearly a month, recovered from an irregular heartbeat and a mini-stroke. After a pregame ovation, he settled in his red folding chair with a toothpick on his lips.

The 63-year-old manager watched his pitching staff dominate again, but fail to get that breakthrough win. This time, the offense came up short, getting only four hits.

Cincinnati hasn't won a home playoff game since beating the Dodgers 10-1 at Riverfront Stadium for a three-game division sweep in the 1995 NLDS. They then got swept by Atlanta.

They didn't get back to the playoffs again until 2010, when they got no-hit by Roy Halladay and swept by the Phillies in the opening round.

The second-largest crowd in Great American history was still getting the hang of playoff rooting. A video board message instructed the 44,501 fans not to wave white rally towels while the Reds were in the field -- could be distracting.

Didn't take long to get those towels twirling. Brandon Phillips led off with a single, but was thrown out at third when he tried to advance on a ball that got away from Posey. It was costly -- the Reds went on to score on a walk and a pair of singles, including Jay Bruce's RBI hit to right.

The Reds got only one more hit the rest of the way.

The game started 3 minutes late because a sign-waving fan ran onto the field. He was tackled by police in center field. ... The Giants avoided their third playoff sweep in franchise history. ... The Giants haven't lost three in a row since they dropped five straight from July 25-30. ... Tom Browning, who pitched the Reds' previous no-hitter -- a perfect game against the Dodgers in 1988 -- threw the ceremonial pitch. ... Bailey fanned six in a row, matching the Reds' postseason record. ... The only larger crowd at GABP was for the 2010 playoff game against Philadelphia.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press