Unbending Doosan Gained the Summit at Last

Just as there is a `one-two punch` of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson in the Arizona Diamondbacks for which Kim Byung-Hyun has played, so was there the best `No. 1, 2 hitters` of Jung Soo-Keun and Jang Won-Jin in the Doosan Bears.

Thanks to the `one-two punch` of Jung Soo-Keun and Jang Won-Jin, the Doosan won a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the Samsung, for which the fifth-game starter Lim Chang-Yong pitched as a closer, to embrace its third Korean Series title following 1982 and 1995.

Since the Samsung won the previous game to chase from one game behind, the game six was held at Jamsil Stadium yesterday. When `Black Bear` Woods blasted the first Korean Series out-of-the-ballpark homer to turn the table in the 1-2 led fifth inning, the Doosan seemed to have grabbed the victory rather easily.

However, the Samsung`s counterattack from the edge was considerably tough. The Samsung reversed the game to 5-3 again by Kim Jong-Hoon`s two-run single and Lee Seung-Yeop`s one-run single in the one-out seventh inning with runners on the second and third, combining the pinch hitter Gang Dong-Woo`s double and Vaerga`s hit-by-pitch.

But in the bottom of the seventh, Doosan Shim Jae-Hak`s base-on-balls and Kim Dong-Ju`s double retreated Samsung`s relief Kim Jin-Woong. And Hong Sung-Heun grounded the ball to the second to get a run against another relief Lim Chang-Yong, securing a foothold for the chase-up.

And after a hit-by-pitch to pinch hitter Jeon Sang-Yeol, Lim Chang-Yong threw a wild pitch at Song Won-Gook`s bat to call in third-base runner Kim Dong-Ju to the home plate, allowing a tie to the Doosan.

The game was brought back to even at 5-5. Here, the Doosan`s `one-two punch` exploded. In the no-out eighth, the Doosan grabbed the best chance with runners on the first and the second by back-to-back hits of lead-off hitter Jung Soo-Keun and Jang Won-Jin. Woods`s ground-ball sent the runners to the second and the third, and third-base runner Jung Soo-Keun had a game-deciding run when Shim Jae-Hak hit a sacrifice fly ball to the left fielder.

As the game ended at 6-5, the Doosan won the best-of-seven Korean Series with 4 wins and 2 losses. The Doosan became the second team following the Lotte in 1992 that won the Korean Series as a regular season third-place team since the semi-playoff system was introduced in 1989.

On the other hand, the Samsung advanced to the Korean Series seven times, but it failed again to win the Series.

Meanwhile, in game five on 27th, the Samsung for which Lim Chang-Yong and Lee Seung-Yeop showed fabulous performances had earned a 14-4 great victory, as all starting hitters recorded at least a hit and a run. With this win, the Samsung escaped from the terrible nightmare of 10 straight losses in the Korean Series at Jamsil Stadium since the Korean Series game six with the Lotte in 1984.

zangpabo@donga.com