SOUTH KOREA – Ko Young-min drilled a game-deciding home run and Juan Cedeno threw five scoreless innings in a no-decision effort as the Doosan Bears beat SK Wyverns 4-1 Thursday to move within one win of advancing to the Korean Series.

The Bears, which lost to the reigning two-time Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) champion in the last two league finals, can eliminate Wyverns Saturday in Game 3 at Seoul’s Jamsil Stadium.

Doosan raced out to a quick lead. Leadoff hitter Lee Jong-wook opened the game with an infield hit off Wyverns’ Japanese starter Ken Kadokura, and swiped second with one out. The speedster reached third on a throwing error by catcher Chung Sang-ho before sprinting home on a groundout by outfielder Kim Hyun-soo.

Cedeno and Kadokura traded goose eggs until the the seventh when SK first baseman Park Jung-kwon tagged Doosan reliever Im Tae-hoon with a solo blast to knot the score.

The Bears answered back with three runs in the eighth to put the defending KBO champion on the brink of elimination. Lee hit a two-out double to right-center that plated Jung Soo-bin for the go-ahead score, and Ko, who was 0-for-3 in the game, popped the second pitch from SK southpaw Jung Woo-ram over the left-center field wall to seal the win.

Photo courtesy of Korea Baseball.blogspot.com

Tags: South Korea