Lions manager breathes sigh of relief after exhausting win in Korean Series

By Yoo Jee-ho

SUWON, South Korea, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- After his team eked out a narrow win Wednesday to even up the Korean Series, Samsung Lions manager Park Jin-man let out a sigh of relief.

The Lions squeezed past the KT Wiz 3-2 in 12 innings in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of Seoul. The Lions got a split on the road, after losing 8-7 on Tuesday, and they will now travel to their home in the southeastern city of Daegu for the next three games.

"We made life difficult on ourselves because we failed to capitalize on so many chances," Park said. "But our players stayed focused until the end and accomplished our goal of getting a split here. We will try to build on this momentum in Daegu."

First baseman Lewin Diaz was the central figure in this victory. He drove in two of the Lions' three runs, including the go-ahead run in the top 10th, and fell a home run shy of the first cycle in Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) history. He scored the go-ahead run in the top 12th, but also made a fielding error in the bottom 10th that eventually led to a Wiz run that tied the game at 2-2.

"When I thought the cameras were not on me, I turned around and sighed," Park said of Diaz's adventurous day. "He came to me and took a bow after the game. He knew he had made an error at such a critical juncture. But he played some solid defense earlier in the game. He tends to make mistakes on routine plays but he has been pretty good on difficult plays. I hope he sticks to his fundamentals on the field."

Park gave kudos to starting pitcher Chris Paddack, who pitched seven innings of one-run ball after four days' rest, and also the last pitcher of the game, the 20-year-old reliever Bae Chan-seung.

Bae pitched a scoreless 12th for the save.

"I think Chan-seung has grown by leaps and bounds this year," Park said. "We can't afford to rely on just a few guys in the bullpen, and Chan-seung has been doing a great job."

The losing manager, Lee Kang-chul, said he had never seen a game like that in his long career.

"I think luck was on Samsung's side," Lee said. "Our players competed hard until the end but it just wasn't meant to be for us."

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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