GWANGJU, South Korea (Interstat) — Yang Eui-ji’s two-run home run in the first inning sparked a five-run outburst in the opening two frames, and Gwak Been tossed six strong innings as the Doosan Bears defeated the Kia Tigers 8-1 on Sunday afternoon at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in front of 20,500 fans.

Doosan, which improved to 33-31-2, jumped on Kia starter Kim Tae-hyeong early. Jung Soo-bin led off the game with a single to center-left. After a strikeout and a popout, Yang Eui-ji crushed a home run to left field, scoring Jung and giving the Bears a 2-0 lead. The Tigers answered quickly in the bottom of the first when Kim Ho-ryung led off with a solo homer to center, cutting the deficit to 2-1. But that was all the offense Kia could muster as Gwak Been settled in and retired 10 of the next 13 batters he faced.

Doosan added a run in the second inning. Park Chan-ho doubled down the left-field line, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly by Yun Jun-ho to make it 3-1. The Bears then broke the game open with a two-run seventh inning. Park Chan-ho singled and scored on a double by An Jae-seok. Later in the inning, Daz Cameron’s sacrifice fly brought home another run. Doosan tacked on two more in the eighth when An Jae-seok walked, stole second and scored on a Yun Jun-ho single, and then added an insurance run in the ninth on a double by Jo Soo-haeng and a single by Yang Eui-ji.

Gwak Been, the top star for Doosan, allowed four hits and one earned run while striking out seven over six innings. He threw 92 pitches and improved to 6-3 on the season after a sharp outing. The Bears’ bullpen was dominant: Choi Ji-kang pitched a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts, Kim Dong-ju worked a perfect eighth with two strikeouts, and Lee Yong-chan closed out the ninth with a hit and a strikeout.

For Kia, Kim Tae-hyeong took the loss, allowing six hits and three earned runs over five innings with one strikeout. The Tigers’ bullpen kept the game from getting further out of hand, as Kim Beom-su, Kwak Do-gyu and others combined for four innings of one-run relief. Kim Ho-ryung led Kia at the plate with two hits, including his solo home run, but the rest of the lineup managed only three hits against Doosan pitching.

Doosan outhit Kia 13-5 and never trailed after the first inning. The Bears snapped a two-game losing streak in the head-to-head series, which now stands at 3-2 in favor of Kia over the last five meetings. Kia, now 34-31-2, saw its three-game home win streak come to an end.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Doosan Bears 5, Kia Tigers 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Kia with a 56.60 percent probability to win. Kia had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of +1.5. The total score of eight went over the over/under line of 9.5.