The Doosan Bears have clinched a spot in the Korean Baseball Organization’s postseason. Doosan won 3-2 on Thursday against the LG Twins at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, in the visiting 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League .With 74 wins, two ties, and 65 losses on the season, Doosan pulled ahead of the KIA Tigers (71 wins, two ties, and 69 losses) to clinch a postseason berth regardless of the remaining games. Manager Lee “The People’s Hitter” Seung-yeop gave Doosan its first postseason berth in two years upon taking over the reins, meaning all five teams that will compete in fall baseball in 2023 are set.The LG Twins finished first in the regular season and headed directly to the Korean Series for the first time in 29 years since 1994, while the KT Wiz finished second and headed to the playoffs.
The SSG Landers, NC Dinos, and Doosan will depend on the outcome of their remaining games. After pounding out 10 hits and struggling to convert them into runs, Doosan’s persistence paid off in the ninth inning .Doosan opened the scoring in the top of the second when Kang Seung-ho hit an infield single to shortstop after back-to-back singles by Yang Ji and Yang Seok-hwan .LG quickly tied the game after a pitching change with Austin Dean’s 23rd solo home run of the season to left-center field. In the top of the seventh, Doosan’s leadoff hitter, Kim Jae-hwan, reached on an error by the first baseman, breaking the 1-1 tie.
Following Kang Seung-ho’s sacrifice bunt, Kim Jae-ho rolled a bunt toward first base, sending pinch runner Kim Tae-geun home. After being held in check by Doosan starter Brandon Waddell, LG tied the game at 2-2 in the eighth against reliever Chung Chul-won .Lee Jae-won, the “big boy in the bullpen,” pulled a high slider from Jung Chul-won for a home run that landed in the left-field bleachers. Doosan’s efforts to erase the magic number one were desperate. In their final at-bat in the top of the ninth, Yang Seok-hwan drew a walk and Lee Seung-yeop brought in pinch-hitter Lee Yoo-chan.
Lee immediately stole second base and reached third on the next batter’s grounder .Kang Seung-ho then came home on a grounder that landed in front of the right fielder. Doosan had runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Kim Myung-shin struck out Austin, Oh Ji-hwan, and Moon Bo-kyung in succession to secure the team’s 토토사이트 postseason berth.