Lions rally past Wiz to take Korean Series lead

The Samsung Lions came from behind to defeat the KT Wiz 5-1 in Game 3 of the Korean Series at home Friday, taking a lead in the best-of-seven showdown by riding one big inning.

Starter Ariel Jurado tossed seven innings of one-run ball and captain Koo Ja-wook delivered a two-run triple in the crucial second inning before a sellout crowd of 23,550 at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu. The Lions now lead the series 2-1, with Game 4 scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday in Daegu.

Park Seung-kyu smoked a solo shot for some insurance in the eighth.

This is the 18th Korean Series in which teams were tied at 1-1 through two games. In those instances, Game 3 winners went on to capture the title 16 times.

The Lions prevailed despite being outhit 7-4.

The Wiz scored the first run in the top of the first, with two doubles off Jurado.

Kim Min-hyuck led off the game with a two-bagger down the right field line. Then with two outs, cleanup Sam Hilliard doubled off the top of the center field fence to cash in Kim for a 1-0 lead.

It was Hilliard’s third double and third RBI of this series.

The Lions punched right back in the bottom first to tie the score against starter So Hyeong-jun.

After a leadoff single by Kim Ji-chan and a one-out walk by Koo Ja-wook, cleanup Choi Hyoung-woo brought Kim home with a single to tie the game.

So got into further trouble by walking Lewin Diaz to load the bases, but got Kim Young-woong to bounce into an inning-ending, 6-3 double play.

So, long known for his control, continued to be erratic in the second inning. He walked the bases loaded, and Kim Seong-yoon’s fielder’s choice groundout scored the go-ahead run for the Lions.

Two runners were now aboard for Koo Ja-wook, who brought both home with a triple off the top of right field wall for a 4-1 Lions lead.

So never walked more than two batters in a game during the regular season but handed out free passes to five of the first 10 batters he faced Friday.

Jurado, on the other hand, was at his usual steady self after the wobbly first inning.

He pitched around two-out singles in both the second and third innings, and then retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings.

So himself settled down to retire 13 straight batters in one stretch, but his teammates gave him no run support.

The Wiz failed to do anything after getting a two-out single in the sixth and a pinch-hit double by Jang Jin-hyuk in the seventh was stranded against Jurado.

The Lions did not have a hit for five straight innings after Koo’s triple. And then Park Seung-kyu, who entered the game in the sixth as a defensive replacement in left field, snapped that drought with a solo home run in the bottom eighth, pushing the lead to 5-1.

After Jurado did his part, Lee Seung-min and Kim Tae-hoon each worked a scoreless inning to lock down the victory for the home team.