Lions manager gives kudos to bullpen after narrow KBO postseason win

GWANGJU, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- In a postseason victory in which his team pounded out 10 hits, including two home runs, Samsung Lions manager Park Jin-man said Thursday his relievers deserved the biggest credit.

The Lions beat the Kia Tigers 6-4 on Thursday to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five second round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason. They can clinch the series with a victory in Game 4 at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Lewin Diaz and Ryu Ji-hyuk each smacked a two-run home run, while Park Seung-kyu delivered the tie-breaking single in the top of the seventh inning at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju.

But these hits would not have mattered if the Lions' bullpen had not held down the fort after starter Choi Won-tae failed to get out of the second inning.

The right-hander was pulled with two outs in the second after allowing two straight singles that had erased a 2-0 Lions lead. A parade of relievers ensued, with left-hander Bae Chan-seung holding the Tigers to a run over 1 1/3 innings and righty Lee Jae-hee tossing two shutout innings.

Starter-turned-reliever Won Tae-in served up a solo homer to Na Sung-bum but only gave up one other hit. Lee Seung-min, Kim Tae-hoon and Satoshi Miyamori got the final seven outs.

On his decision to pull Choi early, Park said: "Even though it was still early in the game, I felt we could not afford to give up the momentum. And Bae Chan-seung did a great job steadying things down."

Park said he wanted to finish the game with Won and Lee Seung-min only but cited cool and rainy conditions as reasons for limiting their workload.

Kim Tae-hoon was asked to close out the game in the ninth, but the right-hander, after getting two quick outs, put two runners aboard for the dangerous Kim Do-yeong, who had homered earlier in the game.

Miyamori needed just one pitch, a forkball that caught the inner part of the plate, to get Kim to hit a bouncer to third for the game-ending fielder's choice.

"We needed someone who could go power on power against Kim Do-yeong," Park said. "When he got that final out on one pitch, I felt confident it was the turning point of the series for us."

Tigers manager Lee Bum-ho rued the continued lack of production from atop his lineup. He has used different combinations in the leadoff spot and the No. 2 hole in every game so far this series to little effect. For Thursday, Park Jae-hyun went 1-for-5 and Kim Ho-ryung went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.

"I know the guys are trying to find their rhythm as quickly as possible, but it is much easier said than done," the losing manager said. "In these high-stakes games, players who struggle tend to get stuck in a rut. We have to figure out who can give us the best chance to win tomorrow."