The NC Dinos defeated the Doosan Bears 14-9 in the wild card game of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason Thursday, with unlikely offensive stars delivering memorable performances at home.
No. 7 hitter Seo Ho-cheol smoked a grand slam as part of his six RBIs at Changwon NC Park in the southeastern town of Changwon, sending the Dinos into the next round in their first postseason appearance in three years. Seo batted 3-for-4 and fell a triple shy of a cycle.
Kim Hyung-jun, out of the No. 8 spot, belted two home runs and drove in four runs — after recording just 13 RBIs in 26 regular season games this year.
Seo’s grand slam, which highlighted a five-run fourth inning that erased a 3-0 deficit, was the first in wild card history, dating back to 2015. Seo’s six RBIs were also a record in a wild card game.
As the No. 4 seed, the Dinos only needed a tie to move on to the next phase, while the fifth-seeded Bears had to win two straight games to advance.
The Bears had the early control with a run in each of the first three innings but failed to make the lead stand.
No fifth seed has ever made it out of the wild card round.
Up next for the Dinos will be the defending champions SSG Landers, the third-best regular season team. Their best-of-five series begins Sunday at Incheon SSG Landers Field in the western city of Incheon.
Source: Yonhap News Agency