Bears beat KBO regular-season champions Tigers at home

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- Starter Choi Seung-yong tossed a season-high six innings for his first win of 2024, and little-used veteran Kim Jae-ho knocked in two runs, as the Doosan Bears defeated the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular-season champions Kia Tigers 9-4 at home Thursday in Seoul.

The Bears improved to 69-66-2 (wins-losses-ties) and stayed in fourth place with seven games remaining. They kept alive their hopes of overtaking the LG Twins for third place. The two Seoul rivals will begin a crucial three-game series Friday.

The Tigers fell to 83-53-2 but they already secured the best record in the regular season Tuesday.

The Tigers scored the first run off Choi before many of the sellout crowd of 23,750 fans had settled into their seats at Jamsil Baseball Stadium.

Kim Do-yeong led off the evening with a triple off the center field wall -- a few feet shy of his 38th home run in pursuit of a 40-40 season -- and scored on a groundout by Kim Sun-bin.

It was Kim's 135th run of the season, tied for the single-season record.

Choi Hyoung-woo cashed in another run with a single.

The Bears then erased their 2-0 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the second inning against starter Eric Stout.

Kim Jae-hwan opened the inning with a double and Jared Young brought him home with a double of his own. Two batters later, Kim Jae-ho knocked in the tying run with a single to center.

Lee Yu-chan's follow-up double put the Bears ahead 3-2.

Things took a turn for the worse for the Tigers during the second inning, as Stout was forced to leave the game with a leg injury.

After throwing his seventh pitch to Jung Soo-bin, the American left-hander lost his balance and fell down in immediate pain. He was tended to by a team trainer and eventually got back on his feet. But after failing to throw a warmup pitch, Stout removed himself from the game.

He walked off the field under his own power. The Tigers said Stout "felt discomfort" in his left thigh and the team will monitor his condition before deciding whether to send him to a hospital for further tests.

The Bears kept it going in the bottom third against reliever Kim Ki-hoon. Kim Jae-hwan hit his second double of the game and scored to make it a 4-2 game on Yang Suk-hwan's single.

Later in the inning, Kim Jae-ho dumped a single to shallow center to push the Bears' lead to 5-2.

Things unraveled further for the Tigers. On Lee Yu-chan's pop fly, three infielders converged near the mound but no one made a grab, allowing another run to score. Third baseman Kim Do-yeong was charged with an error as the ball dropped right in front of him.

For the Bears, Choi Seung-yong settled down after giving up the two early runs. Following Choi Hyoung-woo's RBI single, the left-hander retired nine batters in a row.

Socrates Brito ended that streak with a solo home run in the top of the fourth, but Choi didn't give up another run the rest of the way.

The Bears responded immediately in the bottom fourth, with Yang Eui-ji's solo home run off new pitcher Choi Ji-min that restored a four-run lead for the Bears at 7-3.

In the bottom fifth, Kim Do-yeong committed his second error of the game for the Tigers, this time mishandling a grounder by Heo Kyoung-min. Jung Soo-bin, who'd doubled to lead off the inning, scored for an 8-3 Bears lead. Yang Eui-ji's double then made it a 9-3 game.

The Tigers scored an inconsequential run off a double play ball in the top seventh.

Choi, who missed the first four months of the season with an elbow injury, matched his season high with five strikeouts while earning his first win since Aug. 8 last year.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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