(LEAD) Tigers beat Lions to stave off KBO postseason elimination

GWANGJU, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- The Kia Tigers rallied past the Samsung Lions 4-2 to stave off elimination in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason Friday, taking advantage of subpar defense by their opponents to force a deciding game on the weekend.

The Tigers turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning in Game 4 before a sellout crowd of 18,900 at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju. They scored all three runs in the inning after a fielding error by third baseman Kim Young-woong, with Han Jun-su delivering the tie-breaking hit as part of his two-RBI night.

Closer Jeon Sang-hyun got the final six outs for the save.

This best-of-five series is now tied at 2-2, and the final game is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu.

The winner of that do-or-die game will advance to the Korean Series against the KT Wiz, starting Tuesday.

The two starting pitchers, James Naile for the Tigers and Chris Paddack for the Lions, were going on three days' rest after they had both pitched in Monday's Game 1.

After getting just one hit off Naile then, the Lions knocked the Tigers starter around for three hits in the top of the second inning alone Friday.

With two straight singles having put men at first and second, Ryu Ji-hyuk drove in the game's first run with a single to right field.

But Naile limited the damage to that one run in the second inning, striking out Kim Ji-chan with runners at second and third.

He also pitched out of a one-out, two-on jam in the fourth inning.

Paddack, Naile's counterpart, held the Tigers to one hit through three innings while striking out five. But the Tigers solved him in the fourth inning.

Kim Do-yeong led off with a double. Then with one out, Paddack hit Na Sung-bum with a pitch to put two men aboard.

Two batters later, Han Jun-su, who had homered off Paddack in Game 1, singled to bring Kim home to tie the game at 1-1.

Paddack pitched out of a messy jam created by some shoddy defense in the fifth.

With two outs, first baseman Lewin Diaz bobbled a grounder by Park Jae-hyun. Kim Do-yeong followed by smoking a single past shortstop Lee Jae-hyeon, as Park took third. Kim also advanced to second when no infielder covered the bag for the Lions.

But Paddack struck out the dangerous Harold Castro to end that threat.

The Tigers went to the bullpen to begin the sixth, with left-hander Kwak Do-gyu coming on to face three straight left-handed batters.

Kwak struck out Diaz to start things off, but then Choi Hyoung-woo launched a towering solo home run to give the Lions a 2-1 lead.

Having thrown 89 pitches through five innings, Paddack sprinted out of the dugout to begin the bottom of the sixth.

He got the first out but then gave up two straight singles to Kim Sun-bin and Han Jun-su. Kim took third when Han's hit ricocheted off Diaz's glove. When second baseman Ryu Ji-hyuk's throw to third base went off the line, Han reached second base.

Left-hander Lee Seung-min was called in from the bullpen for his fourth consecutive appearance in this series. Lee got Ha Ju-suk to ground out to first but then hit Kim Tae-gun with a pitch to load the bases.

With left-handed Park Jung-woo due up, right-handed Kim Ho-ryung stepped in as pinch hitter. But Kim, who struck out four times Thursday, hit a routine fly to left for the final out of the inning.

The momentum seemingly behind the Lions, the Tigers put up a three-spot in the bottom of the seventh to seize a 4-2 lead by capitalizing on the third error of the game by the Lions.

Against reliever Satoshi Miyamori, Kim Do-yeong rolled a grounder down the third base line, but third baseman Kim Young-woong let it roll through his wickets, as the batter reached second base.

Castro then cashed in Kim with a single to tie the score at 2-2.

Miyamori got the hook after giving up another single, and new pitcher Lee Jae-hee served up a go-ahead single to Han Jun-su.

Ha Ju-suk then extended the lead to 4-2 with a single to shallow left field.

Jeon Sang-hyun then came out of the bullpen to begin the eighth and six straight batters for his first save of the series.