Oh Myeong-jin powers Doosan Bears past Kiwoom Heroes 14‑3

SEOUL (Interstat) — Gwak Been pitched six effective innings, Oh Myeong-jin drove in four runs with a double and a three-run homer, and the Doosan Bears defeated the Kiwoom Heroes 14-3 on Sunday afternoon at Gocheok Sky Dome.

The Bears snapped a one-game skid in the three-game series, which they lead two games to one after opening with a 16-6 victory Friday and losing 4-2 Saturday. Doosan improved to 14-16-1, while Kiwoom dropped to 12-19-1.

Gwak Been (2-2) allowed two earned runs on six hits over six innings, striking out nine without a walk. He retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced before running into trouble in the fourth.

Oh Myeong-jin, who was 0 for 3 in Saturday’s loss, went 2 for 5 with a double and the pivotal home run. The second baseman’s blast in the sixth inning turned a close game into a rout.

Doosan opened the scoring in the third inning. Kim Ki-yeon walked, Oh Myeong-jin doubled and Park Chan-ho grounded out to third, scoring Kim. Daz Cameron doubled to center to bring home Oh, and Yang Eui-ji singled to left to drive in Cameron, giving the Bears a 3-0 lead.

Kiwoom answered in the bottom of the fourth. Aaron Brooks singled to center-right with two outs, and Yang Hyun-jong followed with a home run to left field, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

The Bears pushed the lead back to two runs in the fifth. An Jae-seok singled and advanced to second on a walk to Kim Min-seok. Jung Soo-bin singled to left, scoring An and making it 4-2.

Doosan broke the game open in the sixth. Cameron doubled to right-center, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Yang Eui-ji’s single. An Jae-seok walked, Kim Min-seok singled to load the bases and Kim Ki-yeon singled in front of left field to drive in An and Yang, increasing the lead to 7-2. Oh Myeong-jin then homered to right field, scoring Kim Ki-yeon and Kim Min-seok to extend the advantage to 10-2.

The Bears added a run in the seventh. Park Jun-soon walked, moved to second on a groundout and scored on Kim Min-seok’s single to right to make it 11-2.

Kiwoom got one back in the bottom of the seventh. Song Ji-hoo reached on an error by shortstop, advanced to second on a single by Park Joo-hong and scored on An Chi-hong’s single to left, trimming the margin to 11-3.

Doosan capped the scoring in the ninth. Kim In-Tae reached on a hit-by-pitch, An Jae-seok was hit by a pitch, Kim Min-seok walked and Jung Soo-bin singled to right, scoring Kim In-Tae for a 12-3 lead. Later in the inning, Yun Jun-ho grounded into a double play, but An Jae-seok homered to bring the final score to 14-3.

Oh Myeong-jin finished with four RBIs on his two-hit day. Cameron had two hits and an RBI. Yang Eui-ji added two hits and two RBIs. For Kiwoom, Yang Hyun-jong had the two-run homer and drove in both of the team’s early runs.

Gwak Been was pulled after six innings, having thrown 97 pitches. Doosan’s bullpen held Kiwoom scoreless over the final three innings. Choi Ju-hyeong struck out three in a perfect seventh, Yang Jae-hun worked a scoreless eighth and Park Chi-guk struck out two in the ninth despite allowing two hits.

Kiwoom starter Park Jun-hyun (1-1) took the loss. He allowed five runs, three earned, on six hits over four innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Kim Seo-jun gave up one earned run on one hit over two innings of relief, striking out two. Kim Jae-woong allowed one earned run on two hits in 1 1-3 innings.

The Heroes managed eight hits, with An Chi-hong recording two singles. Brooks singled before Yang’s homer. Song Ji-hoo singled in the third and again in the fifth.

The game lasted 3 hours, 29 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 16,000.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Doosan 5, Kiwoom 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Doosan a 56.70 percent probability to win. Kiwoom entered as a pregame favorite with a spread of plus 1.5. The total score of 16 went under the over-under line of 7.5.