Description
The Doosan Bears rode the strength of their bottom of the order to win the final game of their three-game series against the Hanwha Eagles, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Doosan won 9-6 at home against the Hanwha Eagles in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League on Wednesday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. The win keeps Doosan in fourth place in the standings with a game in hand on the third-place Samsung Lions.
Hanwha, on the other hand, would have completed a three-game sweep of Doosan for the first time in 19 years since June 2005 with a win, but a mound collapse ended their two-game winning streak.
Doosan began piling up runs early in the game with the help of its bottom of the order. In the top of the second inning, Kang Seung-ho led off with a double, followed by an RBI single by Jeon Min-jae in the No. 7 spot. After an infield single by Park Jun-young in the eighth inning put runners on first and third, Doosan put two runners on base with a triple by Cho Su-hyung in the ninth inning. Yang Ji-sung followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 4-0.
In the third inning, Kang Seung-ho and Jeon Min-jae had back-to-back singles, Park Joon-young had an RBI double, and Cho Su-sung had a sacrifice fly. In the fifth, Kang Seung-ho tripled and RBI singles by Jeon Min-jae and Park Jun-young 토토 extended the lead to 8-0. In the eighth inning, Cho scored on an infield single and an error to extend the lead to 9-3.
On the day, Doosan scored nine runs and had seven RBIs from the bottom of the order alone. Kang Seung-ho was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored, Jeon Min-jae was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored, Park Jun-young was 4-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and one run scored, and Cho Sung-duk was 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored.
Doosan starter Choi Won-jun earned his fourth win of the season, allowing three runs on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 5⅔ innings. Hanwha cut the deficit to three runs in the sixth inning on an RBI double by Chae Eun-sung and RBI singles by Lee Jae-won and Lee Do-yoon, and made it 9-6 in the ninth on Moon Hyun-bin's RBI triple and Lee Won-seok's RBI single, but couldn't pull off the comeback.
In the bottom of the ninth, with the bases loaded, Doosan brought in rookie Kim Taekyeon, who had moved to the closer's role. Kim retired the side in order to earn his third save of the season and first since being named the official closer.
The performance of Doosan's bottom of the order proved to be the difference in the game, as the team avoided a three-game sweep of Hanwha and maintained its fourth-place position.