Lions keep lineup intact after homer explosion in Korean Series; Tigers shuffle deck

After his team exploded for four home runs the previous night, Samsung Lions manager Park Jin-man chose not to mess with success Saturday in the ongoing Korean Series.

The Lions beat the Kia Tigers 4-2 in Game 3 of the best-of-seven Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) championship round Friday night at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul. They launched four home runs — all solo shots — to tie the KBO record for most homers in a postseason game.

The Lions cut the series deficit to 2-1 and will look to even up the series with the exact same lineup as Friday.

Park Byung-ho, the designated hitter who broke out of a 0-for-11 slump with a home run, will remain in the sixth spot. Right fielder Lee Sung-gyu, who homered in his first Korean Series start from the No. 8 spot, will stay there too.

This will be the first time in eight postseason games this year that the Lions will have the exact same lineup for two consecutive games.

“I thought long and hard about the right field
position, but I felt Lee Sung-gyu is riding a good wave. So I decided not to change things up,” Park said in his pregame press conference. “I will be sticking with the hot bats going forward.”

The Lions will face right-hander James Naile, who held them to a run in five innings in Game 1 on Monday before it was suspended due to rain. Naile used his sweeper to strike out six batters, with Kim Hun-gon’s solo homer being the only damage done against him.

Park expected his batters to have a better game against Naile the second time around.

“The sweeper is his main weapon, and since we already experienced that in the first game and our power came back last night, we should be able to attack him better today,” Park said. “When we play at home, we want to lean on our power as much as we can.”

Daegu Samsung Lions Park is the most hitter-friendly stadium in the KBO. In three postseason games here so far, the Lions have launched 12 home runs.

On the pitching front, Park will need starter Won Tae-in to cover as many
innings as possible Saturday. With no viable starter beyond Won and Friday’s winner, Denyi Reyes, Park has already said Game 5 on Monday will be a bullpen day for the Lions, with multiple relievers asked to get 27 outs or more.

“He could go for 100 to 110 pitches today,” Park said of the right-hander, whose season high in pitch count is 111. “He didn’t throw that much in Game 1 (when he had 66 pitches). He has said himself he can go long today.”

The Tigers made several notable changes to their lineup for Saturday. Designated hitter Choi Hyoung-woo will start the game on the bench due to lower back pains, with right fielder Na Sung-bum taking over as DH and cleanup hitter. Second baseman Kim Sun-bin moved up from No. 6 to No. 2 spot, while right fielder Socrates Brito went from No. 2 to No. 5.

No. 9 hitter Choi Won-jun was brought up to the No. 6 spot. Left fielder Lee Chang-jin and first baseman Byeon Woo-hyeok will make their first Korean Series starts, batting seventh and eighth, respectively.

“We will
have to see if Choi Hyoung-woo will be able to pinch hit later in the game,” Tigers manager Lee Bum-ho said.

As for other changes, Lee said he wanted to insert players who he thought could attack Won.

Kim Sun-bin leads the Tigers with five hits in this series, while Byeon homered off Won last season.

“When Naile is pitching, we need tight infield defense,” Lee added. “Byeon Woo-hyeon is our steadiest first baseman defensively.”

Just as Park Jin-man hoped for a long outing from Won, Lee wanted an extended start from Naile.

He said he wanted to keep Naile’s pitch count to around 80 in Game 1, since it was his first game since Aug. 24, when he broke his jaw after getting struck by a line drive. There will be no such restriction this time.

“He can go up to 100 pitches today,” Lee said. “To save our bullpen, I hope he can get near the 100 mark.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency