Game Summary
The Doosan Bears escaped a tight contest at home against the SSG Landers on Wednesday night, holding on for a 5-3 victory. It was a sloppy affair for stretches, marked by walks, errors, and some defensive miscues, but the Bears found enough offense when it mattered most. Kim Min-seok delivered the decisive blow in the eighth inning with a clutch single up the middle, breaking what had been a tense deadlock and putting Doosan ahead for good.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doosan Bears | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 0 |
| SSG Landers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 1 |
The game remained competitive throughout, with neither team able to pull away decisively. SSG mounted pressure late, but Doosan’s bullpen, particularly closer Lee Young-ha, slammed the door in the final frame to secure the win. The Bears improved to 52-4-45 with the victory, while the Landers fell further back at 39-4-60.
Pitching Performance
Doosan starter Choi Min-seok lasted just over four innings, giving up six hits and three runs while walking five batters. It wasn’t his sharpest outing—the Landers made him work and forced multiple baserunners through the early innings. However, the Bears’ bullpen was more effective, with Kim Jeong-woo striking out two in a clean inning and Kim Taek-yeon earning the win after pitching a scoreless frame.
SSG’s starter Hae-chi was consistently good for six innings, scattering six hits and allowing just two runs while punching out nine Doosan batters. But the Landers couldn’t maintain that quality pitching down the stretch. Choi Min-jun, who took the loss, imploded spectacularly in the eighth, allowing three runs on three hits without recording an out. The damage was done before the Landers could even react.
Lee Young-ha closed things out with 1⅓ innings of relief, surrendering no hits and no runs to notch his save. He faced minimal pressure in the ninth, inducing a strikeout to end the game.
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doosan Bears | ||||||
| Choi Min-seok | 4 ⅓ | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Lee Byung-heon | 0 ⅔ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kim Jung-woo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kim Taek-yeon [W] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Lee Yong-chan [H] | 0 ⅔ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Young-ha Lee [S] | 1 ⅓ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| SSG Landers | ||||||
| Hae-Chi | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Jeon Young-jun [H] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Choi Min-jun [L] | 0 ⅓ | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Park Si-hu | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lee Gun-uk | 0 ⅔ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Moon Seung-won | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Offensive Highlights
Ahn Jae-seok led the Bears’ attack, going 3-for-5 and driving in a run. The shortstop’s three hits included a pair of doubles that helped keep Doosan’s lineup moving. Park Jun-soon and Kim Min-seok also contributed with hits and RBIs, though the lineup wasn’t overpowering by any means—ten total hits for the game speaks to how neither offense truly dominated.
For the Landers, most-faithful performer Choi Ji-hoon reached base three times in four at-bats, keeping his team’s hopes alive with steady contact hitting. Lee Ji-young matched that with three hits of her own. But the Landers’ middle-of-the-order punch failed them when it mattered. Madris did strike a two-run homer in the fifth off Choi Min-seok—his third of the season—but that wound up being the extent of their power threat.
| Batter | AB | H | R | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doosan Bears | |||||
| Park Jun-soon | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kim Min-seok | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| An Jae-seok | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jo Su-haeng | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Park Ji-hoon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| SSG Landers | |||||
| Park Sung-han | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Madris | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Choi Ji-hun | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ji-young Lee | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Key Play
The turning point came in the eighth inning with one out and a runner on third. Kim Min-seok stepped up and punched a single into center field, scoring the go-ahead run. It wasn’t a dramatic moment—no booming home run, no diving catch to preserve a lead. Just a hitter making good contact and finding grass at the right moment. That’s baseball sometimes, and it’s why Doosan is sitting comfortably in fourth place while SSG continues to struggle at the bottom of the standings.
Standings Impact
This victory keeps Doosan firmly in the middle of the playoff race. At 52 wins against 45 losses, the Bears have a solid foundation and room to build as we move deeper into the season. The four draws suggest they’ve had opportunities both ways.
SSG, meanwhile, continues to sink. Nine wins short of Doosan with a record of 39-60, the Landers are looking at a long climb back to relevance. They need to find more consistency, especially from their bullpen, if they hope to make any noise down the stretch.