(LEAD) Lions defeat Tigers for 1st win in Korean Series

The Samsung Lions homered their way past the Kia Tigers 4-2 at home on Friday for their first win in the Korean Series after dropping two straight games.The Lions launched four solo home runs to tie the Korean Series record to back starter Denyi Reyes, who threw seven innings of one-run ball and struck out eight at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul.The Lions will look to even the best-of-seven series in Game 4, which starts at 2 p.m. in Daegu. They are trying to become just the third team in 20 tries to rally from a 2-0 deficit to win the Korean Series. The 2013 Lions were the last team to pull off that comeback.The Lions are chasing their first title since 2014, while the Tigers haven't come out on top since 2017.Lions designated hitter Park Byung-ho hit his 14th career postseason home run to share the all-time lead with ex-Lions star Lee Seung-yuop.The Lions opened the scoring the way they often do at this stadium: with a home run.With one out in the bottom th ird, Lee Sung-gyu, making his first start of the series and batting eighth, drilled a belt-high fastball from starter Eric Lauer and sent it 125 meters into the seats in left-center field.It was Lee's first career postseason home run.After getting out of a two-on, one-out jam with a double play in the second inning, Reyes retired the side in order in the third and fourth innings, while striking out three batters.He then received some help from his defense to keep the Tigers off the board in the top fifth. With two outs and runners at first and second, Choi Won-jun hit a sinking liner to left. Left fielder Kim Hun-gon, though not the fleetest of foot, made a diving catch on a ball that could have cleared the bases if he had missed it.The Lions gave their starter more breathing room in the bottom fifth, with Kim Young-woong pulling an outside fastball from Lauer for a solo homer to right field, doubling the Lions' lead to 2-0.It was Kim's third career postseason homer, and all three have come in three games at Daegu Samsung Lions Park.The Tigers responded with a run against Reyes in the top sixth. After Park Chan-ho singled to lead off the inning and stole second base, cleanup Choi Hyoung-woo brought him home with a single to right.Reyes put out the fire by striking out Na Sung-bum on a 0-2 slider.With his pitch count at 95, Reyes came back out for the seventh and sat down three straight batters, striking out Kim Tae-gun with his 107th pitch.The Lions pulled away with more home runs in the bottom seventh. Kim Hun-gon greeted new pitcher Jeon Sang-hyun by jumping on the first-pitch fastball for a solo home run to left. Then Park Byung-ho smoked the very next pitch, this time a slider, to the right-center field for the back-to-back shot.Jeon got the hook after becoming the first pitcher in Korean Series history to surrender back-to-back home runs on two pitches.With Reyes out of the game, the Tigers got a run back in the top eighth with Kim Do-yeong's single off closer Kim Jae-yoon to make it a 4 -2 game.Kim Jae-yoon walked the tightrope in the top of the ninth inning, loading the bases with a single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Park Chan-ho, after pulling a line drive just foul down the left field line, grounded into third baseman Kim Young-woong, who stepped on the third base bag for the final out.Reyes improved to 3-0 this postseason with a 0.87 ERA.Lauer was the hard-luck loser. Aside from the two solo shots, Lauer allowed only three other hits, all singles, in five innings and struck out eight.Source: Yonhap News Agency