(LEAD) Lions defeat Wiz for 1st Korean Series title in 12 yrs

(ATTN: ADDS details from para 8, photos)
By Yoo Jee-ho

DAEGU, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- The Samsung Lions are the king of South Korean baseball once again.

The Lions hammered the KT Wiz 12-1 in Game 5 of the Korean Series at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu on Sunday to close out the best-of-seven battle and capture their first title in 12 years.

The Lions blew the game wide open in an eight-run fifth inning before a sellout crowd of 23,550 fans, while starting pitcher Won Tae-in tossed five innings of one-run ball for the victory.

Captain Koo Ja-wook went 3-for-5 and scored twice en route to earning the Korean Series MVP award.

The Lions lost the series opener Tuesday on the road in Suwon, just south of Seoul, but then won the next four games in a row, including the past three at their home in Daegu.

The Wiz had the best record in the regular season and earned a bye to the Korean Series. The Samsung Lions finished the regular season in second place, eight games behind the Wiz, and the Lions are the first No. 2 seed to be crowned the Korean Series champions since the 2018 SK Wyverns.

The Wiz were going for their first title since 2021. They were also the runners-up in the 2023 Korean Series.

The Wiz scored first for the third straight game, thanks to Jang Jin-hyuk's sacrifice fly in the top third. But the Lions responded right away with three runs in the bottom half of that inning.

Kim Ji-chan drew a one-out walk against starter Davis Daniel, and two batters later, Koo brought him home with a double to deep right field.

Lewin Diaz then scored Koo with a big single off the top of the right field wall to put the Lions up 2-1.

Diaz failed to take extra base as he took his time watching the flight of the towering fly. But Diaz did reach second when Choi Hyoung-woo singled, and then scored to make it 3-1 on Kim Young-woong's follow-up single.

The Wiz pulled Daniel after the third inning, with Ko Young-pyo, who started Game 2 last Wednesday and would have been in line to start Game 6 on Tuesday, coming in from the bullpen to open the fourth inning.

After Ko threw a clean bottom fourth, the Wiz tried to rally in the top fifth, putting two men aboard with a single and a walk.

But Won cleaned up his own mess by striking out Jang and getting Kim Hyun-soo with his weak groundout to second baseman Ryu Ji-hyuk.

In the bottom fifth, the Lions made the Wiz pay for the missed opportunity by putting up an eight-spot.

Park Seung-kyu reached first on a fielding error by shortstop Kwon Dong-jin, and Koo followed with a single. Two batters later, Choi Hyoung-woo cashed in Park with a single just over the leaping second baseman Ryu Hyun-in for a 4-1 lead.

Kim Young-woong's infield single scored Koo all the way from second. After Kim's batted ball ricocheted off the mound, Ryu tried to make a diving grab to keep the ball in the infield.

Ryu ended up deflecting the ball past Kwon, who was standing near the second base bag on the play. As the ball scooted toward shallow left field, Koo, who has been playing through a left hamstring injury, chugged all the way home to put the Lions up 5-1.

The Lions piled on, as Lee Jae-hyeon's double to left pushed their lead to 6-1.

With the first base open, Ko intentionally walked Ryu Ji-hyuk to face Kang Min-ho, who has been hampered by a left oblique injury in the series.

With his half swing, Kang chopped a grounder to Ryu Hyun-in for what should have been an inning-ending double play. Instead, Kwon mishandled Ryu's relay throw, allowing two more runners to come home.

Kim Ji-chan then landed a knockout blow on Ko with a triple to center that scored two runs for a 10-1 lead.

Reliever Son Dong-hyun threw a wild pitch as the lead grew to 11-1.

When the dust settled, the Lions had ended up scoring their eight runs on six hits, two errors and one wild pitch.

The Lions summoned starting pitcher Chris Paddack from the bullpen to handle the final four innings.

In the bottom eighth, Kim Young-woong's single off shortstop Kwon Dong-jin's face brought in the Lions' 12th run.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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