It’s like déjà vu two days in a row. It happened on Game 4, and it happened again on Game 5. Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop was ejected and the game went to extra innings, which Doosan won. NC lost again, leaving more than 10 runners on base in the bottom of the 10th inning.
The NC Dinos lost 3-4 in 11 innings of extra innings against the Doosan Bears of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at NC Park in Changwon, Gyeongnam, at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
The loss extended NC’s worst record to 1-11 in its last 12 games. After losing eight in a row, they won one and then lost three in a row. Doosan bounced back from a weekend sweep of the LG Twins with an extra-inning victory that saw manager Lee Seung-yeop ejected for the second straight day.
Doosan starter Kwak Bin threw 110 pitches over six innings, allowing two runs and five hits (one homer) with one walk and five strikeouts in a no-decision. NC starter Kim Si-hoon threw 100 pitches in five innings, allowing one run, three hits, four walks and eight strikeouts in a no-decision. It was a career-high in strikeouts and pitches.
In the bottom of the second inning, NC put runners on first and third with back-to-back singles by Son Asub and Kim Hui-jip, and Seo Ho-cheol, who had gone 0-for-5 the previous day, hit a leadoff single through the shortstop. However, the team was unable to capitalize on the extra-base opportunity as Park Min-woo hit an infield single.
In the bottom of the third, Park Gun-woo hit a solo home run to give NC a 2-0 lead, and right-hander Kim Si-hoon struck out eight batters in four innings, surpassing his previous career-high of seven.
Doosan’s comeback began in the top of the fifth inning. A walk to Kim Jae-ho, a single by Cho Su-sung, and a walk to Jeong Soo-bin loaded the bases with two outs, and Heo Kyung-min drew a walk against Kim Si-hoon on a full count.
In the sixth inning, NC switched pitchers from Kim Si-hoon to Han Jae-seung, and Doosan’s Yang Yang-ji led off with a double and crossed home plate on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2.
In the top of the seventh inning, with the score tied at 2-2, Doosan’s leadoff hitter Cho Sung-hyun hit an infield single to first base that was caught by pitcher Kim Young-gyu and thrown to Davidson at first base. Davidson was called out at the plate, but the ball was lost in his glove and was ruled safe.
Doosan requested a video review, and the video review center ruled that Cho was out for defensive interference from three feet. When the umpire ruled 토토 that Davidson did not miss the ball, but that Cho was out due to a three-foot defensive interference call, Lee Seung-yeop came out and argued with the umpire for a long time. Eventually, the umpire ordered Lee to leave the game.
In the previous day’s game, Lee Seung-yeop was the second Doosan manager to be ejected for the second day in a row, as he was ordered to leave by the umpire after a video review when Lee Yoo-chan’s stolen base in the top of the ninth inning with a 1-0 lead was ruled out due to an interference call.
The bottom of the ninth inning was disappointing for NC. With the score 2-2 and one out, Doosan second baseman Jeon Min-jae misjudged a ground ball hit by No. 6 Kim Hwi-jip and slipped while chasing it, causing him to miss the ball for an infield single. Then, Seo Ho-Ryun’s line drive to third base was slowed down and turned into an infield single, putting runners on first and second. One hit could have led to the game-winning run. However, Kim Hyung-joon and Kim Joo-won struck out, sending the game to extra innings for the second day in a row.
In the top of the 10th inning, NC relieved Lee Yong-chan and brought up Kim Jae-yeol, but Doosan’s leadoff hitter Cho Su-hyun hit a deep triple to right field, giving the team another chance to score in the top of the 10th inning. Eventually, Heo Kyung-min hit an RBI double to give Doosan a 3-2 lead.
NC cried in the bottom of the 10th inning after failing to score except for a wild pitch in a bases-loaded opportunity, but a wild pitch tied the game and sent it to extra innings, and in the top of the 11th inning, Doosan’s offense broke through with a walk to Kim Jae-hwan, an error by the shortstop, and a single by Kang Seung-ho.
In the end, NC blew a bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the 10th inning to lose another frustrating game and continue its worst run of 1-11 in its last 12 games.