GWANGJU (Interstat) — The Kia Tigers beat the Samsung Lions 4-2 on Friday evening in Game 4 of the playoff series, tying the series at 2-2 at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field. Kia, the home team, outhit Samsung 10-7 and used a three-run rally to erase a one-run deficit. The Tigers improved to 83-65-2, while the Lions fell to 83-60-3. Kia bounced back from a loss in the previous game of the series and prevented Samsung from taking a 3-1 series lead. The Tigers had lost the prior game of the series, a 6-4 Samsung victory. The game was played in the evening at the Tigers’ home park, and Kia’s bullpen closed the door after the offense took the lead.

Chris Paddack allowed one earned run and six hits over 5 1/3 innings for Samsung, striking out six, in a start that kept the Lions in front through the middle innings. James Naile, Kia’s top star, matched him with one earned run and six hits over five innings, fanning five. Naile had allowed one earned run in each of his two previous postseason starts, including a 4 1/3-inning winning effort at Samsung. He settled in after Samsung scored against him and kept the Tigers close. Paddack did not factor in the decision. Miyamori Satoshi took the loss for Samsung, dropping to 0-4. Cho Sang-woo earned the win for Kia and improved to 6-2, while Jeon Sang-hyun recorded his sixth save.

Samsung opened the scoring in the second when Kim Young-woong singled, Kang Min-ho singled and Ryu Ji-hyuk singled to right field to bring home Kim Young-woong. The Lions had five hits through the first two innings but could not add to the lead against Naile. Kia’s first two innings were quiet against Paddack, who retired the first six batters he faced. Park Jae-hyun flied out, Kim Do-yeong struck out and Harold Castro popped out in the first. Na Sung-bum struck out, Kim Sun-bin lined out and Han Jun-su struck out in the second. Samsung’s top of the first also produced a hit when Koo Ja-wook singled to left, but Lewin Diaz grounded out to the pitcher to end the threat.

Kia tied the game in the fourth. Kim Do-yeong doubled to center-right, Na Sung-bum was hit by a pitch and Kim Sun-bin flied out to right before Han Jun-su singled down the left-field line to score Kim Do-yeong. Ha Ju-suk grounded out to first to end the inning. Samsung threatened again in the top of the fourth when Kim Young-woong and Kang Min-ho singled, but Naile struck out Ryu Ji-hyuk and got Lee Jae-hyeon to fly out to center. The Lions went down in order in the fifth, and Kia put two runners aboard in the bottom half but could not score. Park Jae-hyun reached on an error by the first baseman, Kim Do-yeong singled to left and Harold Castro struck out to leave the runners stranded.

Choi Hyoung-woo put Samsung back ahead with a solo homer to right field in the sixth. Choi went 1 for 4 with the homer and one RBI. After Kim Young-woong walked, Kang Min-ho grounded into a double play to end the inning. In the bottom of the sixth, Kim Sun-bin had an infield single, Han Jun-su singled and advanced on an error, but Ha Ju-suk grounded out and Kim Tae-gun was hit by a pitch before Park Jung-woo flied out. The most important stretch came in the seventh, when Kia broke through against the Samsung bullpen. Kim Do-yeong reached on an error by the third baseman and moved to second, Harold Castro singled to left to score Kim, and after Na Sung-bum struck out, Kim Sun-bin singled to right-center to put runners on the corners. Han Jun-su then singled down the right-field line to score Castro, and Ha Ju-suk followed with a single to left that brought home Jeong Hyun-chang. That three-run burst turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead and proved to be the difference.

Jeon Sang-hyun pitched two perfect innings with one strikeout for Kia. Cho Sang-woo retired all five batters he faced over 1 2/3 innings. Kim Tae-hoon tossed a perfect inning with one strikeout for Samsung. Bae Chan-seung retired one batter without allowing a hit. Lee Seung-min got two outs without allowing a hit. Lee Jae-hee allowed two hits in one-third of an inning but no earned runs. Han Jun-su finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs and was central to Kia’s comeback. Samsung’s bullpen kept the game close until the seventh, but Kia’s relief corps sealed the victory. Kia finished with 10 hits, while Samsung had seven. Kia’s bullpen combined to keep Samsung hitless over the final 3 2/3 innings.

Kia’s eighth inning ended with Kim Ho-ryung fouled out to first, Park Jae-hyun struck out and Kim Do-yeong fouled out to first. Samsung went down in order in the eighth when Park Seung-kyu popped out to second, Koo Ja-wook flied out to center and Lewin Diaz flied out to left. The Lions could not mount a rally in the ninth against Jeon and Cho. The Tigers’ defense backed their pitchers with a clean finish, and the series moved to 2-2 with the home team having protected its field. The victory gave Kia a split of the first four games. The Lions had chances early but left runners on base, while Kia capitalized on its seventh-inning opportunity and held on for the win.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Samsung 3, Kia 8. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Kia with a 52.6 percent probability to win. Kia had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 6 went over the over/under line of 7.5.