
The Doosan Bears have won two straight games.
Doosan came from behind to win the 11th game of the season against the Kiwoom Heroes of the Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League 2024 7-4 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on Thursday. Doosan remained in fourth place with a season record of 51 wins, 46 losses and two ties, while last-place Kiwoom lost its second straight game to fall to 38 wins and 55 losses on the season.
Doosan’s starting lineup was Jung Soo-bin (center fielder), Lee Yoo-chan (left fielder), Heo Kyung-min (third baseman), Yang Ji-jee (catcher), Yang Seok-hwan (first baseman), Kim Jae-hwan (designated hitter), Park Jun-young (shortstop), Yang Chan-yeol (right fielder), and Jeon Min-jae (second baseman). Kwak Bin was the starting pitcher.
Kiwoom’s lineup was Lee Ju-hyung (center fielder), Ronnie Dawson (designated hitter), Song Sung-moon (third baseman), Kim Hye-sung (second baseman), Choi Ju-hwan (first baseman), Won Sung-joon (left fielder), Lee Hyung-jong (right fielder), Kim Gun-hee (catcher), and Lee Jae-sang (shortstop). The starting pitcher was Ha Young-min.
Kwak Bin earned his ninth win of the season (7-1) with his second straight quality start. He allowed two runs on three hits and five walks with eight strikeouts in six innings on 109 pitches. Kwak-Bin has now won two consecutive quality starts following a seven-inning, 112-pitch, two-run outing against the Ulsan Lotte Giants on April 18. He used a mix of fastballs (32), sliders (35), changeups (22), and curveballs (20) to cook the Kiwoom bats. His fastball topped out at 153 mph and averaged 150 mph.
Kwak got off to a rough start. He gave up a leadoff single to Lee Joo-hyung in the top of the first. He got Dawson to ground out to the pitcher, but then gave up a double to Song Sung-moon in right field to make it 0-1. He then gave up an RBI single to Kim Hye-sung to right-center field to make it 0-2.
After the two runs, Kwak-Bin woke up and pitched well. He struck out five consecutive batters, starting with Choi Joo-hwan at first base in the top of the first inning and Lee Jae-sang at second base in the top of the second inning, to shut down the Kiwoom bats. He utilized a variety of pitches, including a fastball, changeup, slider, and curveball to get the strikeouts.
Kwak got into trouble again in the top of the fourth inning when he walked leadoff hitter Kim Hye-sung. He struck out Choi Joo-hwan and Won Sung-joon to put runners on second and third, and after giving up a walk to Lee Hyung-jong, he got Kim Gun-hee to fly out to second base to end the threat.
Doosan’s bats came alive in the bottom of the fourth inning. Heo Kyung-min and Yang Seok-hwan came to the plate. Heo drew a leadoff walk and Yang singled to shortstop to load the bases. Yang Seok-hwan then hit a two-run shot to left to tie the game at 2-2. On a 1-1 pitch, he took a curveball from Ha Young-min that was high and outside. His 22nd of the season.
Kwak Bin kept the game tied until the top of the sixth inning. He walked leadoff hitter Lee Jae-sang in the top of the fifth and got Lee to ground out to first base to end the inning, and when Kim Hye-sung and Won Sung-joon singled to put runners on first and second in the top of the sixth, he struck out Lee Hyung-jong to end the inning.
Doosan came back in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on second and third, Kang Seung-ho and Park Jun-young drew walks to load the bases. Kiwoom then 안전놀이터 pushed starter Ha Young-min a little further, as Yang Chan-yeol drove in a run with a pushing grounder to make it 3-2. In the end, Ha was replaced by Cho Young-gun after giving up three runs on six hits (one home run) and five walks with four strikeouts in 5⅔ innings on 104 pitches. Young-min Ha suffered his sixth loss of the season.
A four-run big inning in the bottom of the seventh put the game away. Jung Soo-bin led off the inning with a grounder to shortstop that was misplayed by the shortstop, putting runners on first and second with no outs. The next batter, Lee Yoo-chan, attempted to bunt and was cut off by a foul fly to the catcher, but Heo Kyung-min hit a single to right-center to make it 4-2. Two innings later, Yang Seok-hwan and Kang Seung-ho drew back-to-back walks to load the bases.
Kiwoom made a quick change on the mound from Cho Young-gun to Kim Dong-wook. Park Jun-young took advantage of the big scoring opportunity. He hit a three-run double over the center field fence to make it 7-2.
Doosan turned to its bullpen in the seventh inning. Kim Kang-ryul (⅔ innings), Lee Byeong-heon (⅓ innings), Lee Kyo-hoon (⅓ innings, 1 run), Lee Young-ha (1 inning, 1 run), and Kim Taek-yeon (⅔ innings) followed to preserve the win.
In the top of the eighth, Lee gave up the go-ahead run. He struck out leadoff hitter Song Sung-moon on a swinging strikeout, but gave up a solo shot to Kim Hye-sung to cut the deficit to 7-3. Lee walked Choi Joo-hwan to load the bases and was replaced by Lee Young-ha with one out. Lee got Won Sung-joon to fly out to center field, but first baseman Yang Seok-hwan made a meaningless throwing error to the pitcher, allowing Choi to steal second. Lee Young-ha struck out Lee Hyung-jong on a wild pitch to end the threat.
Doosan tried to close out the game with Young-ha Lee, but after giving up a leadoff triple to Ko Young-woo and an RBI single to Lee to cut the deficit to 7-4 in the top of the ninth, they brought in reliever Kim Taek-yeon. Kim struck out Dawson on a swinging strikeout and got Song Sung-moon to fly out to shortstop to end the game.
The offense produced 10 hits on the day, marking the second consecutive day the team had double-digit hits. Heo Kyung-min went 3-for-3 with a double, two walks, and one RBI. Park Jun-young went 1-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, while Yang Seok-hwan went 1-for-3 with a home run, a walk and two RBIs.