Daejeon: Captain Chae Eun-seong delivered a go-ahead two-run single as part of his three-RBI day and young starter Moon Dong-ju fired two dominant innings in relief, as the Hanwha Eagles defeated the Samsung Lions 9-8 to begin their Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason series at home Saturday. Moon Hyun-bin also contributed three RBIs for the Eagles, who pounded out 15 hits to emerge victorious from a back-and-forth battle before a sellout crowd of 16,750 fans at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Game 2 of this best-of-five series is also in Daejeon at 2 p.m. Sunday. What was billed as a battle of aces between Cody Ponce for the Eagles and Gerson Garabito for the Lions unexpectedly turned into a slugfest early. The Lions drew the first blood in the top of the second inning by stringing together three straight hits, the third being Lee Jae-hyeon’s two-run double to right-center field. Lee took third when right fielder Kim Tae-yean’s throw back into the infield went off line, and two batters later, Kang Min-ho’s sacrifice fly scored Lee for a 3-0 Lions lead.
But the Eagles erased that deficit in the bottom second, putting up a five-spot with two outs. With runners at second and third, Son Ah-seop hit a dribbler back toward the third base side of the mound. Garabito picked up the ball, but instead of throwing to first as catcher Kang Min-ho instructed him to do, the pitcher made a high toss back to Kang. The lead runner Kim Tae-yean was able to slide home safely, just ahead of Kang’s tag. Things unraveled for Garabito from there. The right-hander walked Luis Liberato to load the bases, and Moon Hyun-bin cleared the bases with a double off the right-field wall to put the Eagles up 4-3. Roh Si-hwan then singled Moon home for a 5-3 lead, the Eagles’ fifth hit of that inning alone.
But that lead didn’t last long, either, as the Lions scored twice in the top third. After two straight singles began the rally, Koo Ja-wook brought home Kim Ji-chan with a sacrifice fly. Then Kim Young-woong’s two-out single to deep right field corner cashed in Kim Seong-yoon, who had singled and stolen second to get himself into scoring position. The Lions reclaimed their lead in the top fourth, as Kim Tae-hoon turned on a first-pitch fastball from Ponce and sent it over the right-field wall for a go-ahead solo home run.
The Eagles punched back to retake the lead by scoring three runs in the bottom sixth. After Sim Woo-jun’s leadoff double, reliever Yang Chang-seop had the count at 1-2 on Son Ah-seop before the Lions pulled him for left-hander Bae Chan-seung. Son, who bats left-handed, fouled off a couple of pitches before lining a double to deep center field to drive in the tying run. Liberato’s double had the runners at second and third with nobody out. Right-hander Lee Ho-sung came out of the bullpen to strike out the next two batters, but he couldn’t get past Chae Eun-seong, who dropped a two-run single for an 8-6 Eagles lead.
The Eagles summoned their No. 4 starter Moon Dong-ju from the bullpen to begin the top seventh. In his first postseason game, the fireballer pumped one fastball after another by helpless Lions hitters. He touched 161.6 kilometers per hour while striking out two batters in the seventh, the hardest pitch thrown by anyone in the KBO this year. Moon struck out two more in the top eighth, and then Chae gave the Eagles a 9-6 cushion with a single in the bottom half of that inning. The Lions made things a little too close for the Eagles’ comfort, as they scored twice off closer Kim Seo-hyeon thanks to Lee Jae-hyeon’s solo homer and Lee Sung-gyu’s pinch-hit single. But reliever Kim Beom-su put out the fire to preserve the narrow victory.
Ponce was credited with the win and tied the postseason record for most runs allowed by a winning pitcher with six.