'4th place in sight': Doosan, 'comeback after comeback' — three-game winning streak sealed in bloodbath... KIA in hot pursuit by 2 games [Jamsil on-site review]

*This content was translated by AI.

The Doosan Bears, who have secured their spot in the postseason race, continued their winning streak with three consecutive victories. They can now even look toward the 4th-place position.

On the 1st, at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, Doosan defeated the NC Dinos 9-7 in a home game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.

Along with their three-game winning streak, Doosan reached 70 wins (63 losses, 5 draws), narrowing the gap to 4th-place KIA Tigers, who lost on the same day, to two games. Meanwhile, NC, which fell into a four-game losing streak, dropped to 62 wins, 73 losses, and 2 draws, ceding the 6th-place spot to the SSG Landers.

Doosan set its starting lineup with Kim Min-seok (left fielder), Ahn Jae-seok (third baseman), Park Jun-soon (second baseman), Yang Eui-ji (catcher), Unio Severino (designated hitter), Kang Seung-ho (first baseman), Jo Su-haeng (right fielder), Park Ji-hoon (shortstop), and Jung Soobin (center fielder). Choi Min-seok took the mound as the starting pitcher.

NC countered with Kim Ju-won (shortstop), Cheon Jae-hwan (right fielder), Park Min-woo (designated hitter), Kim Hwi-jip (third baseman), Blaine Crim (first baseman), Ko Jun-hwi (center fielder), Ahn Jung-yeol (catcher), Han Jae-hwan (second baseman), and Oh Tae-yang (left fielder). Song Myung-gi started on the mound.

Both starting pitchers wobbled early, leading to a tense back-and-forth battle. Doosan struck first. In the bottom of the 1st inning with two outs and a runner on first, Yang Eui-ji's cannon fired. He crushed Song Myung-gi's high 145 km/h fastball for a two-run home run to left-center field. It was his 22nd home run of the season.

Choi Min-seok, who had pitched well through the first two innings, wobbled in the 3rd. After allowing consecutive hits to Han Jae-hwan and Oh Tae-yang, he struck out Kim Ju-won but induced a ground ball to shortstop from Cheon Jae-hwan that traded for one run. However, he then allowed consecutive hits followed by stolen bases to Park Min-woo and Kim Hwi-jip, and also gave up hits to Blaine Crim and Ko Jun-hwi, allowing four runs in the 3rd inning alone and falling behind.

However, the Doosan lineup regained its strength in the bottom of the 4th inning. Starting with a walk by leadoff hitter Severino, they followed with consecutive hits from Kang Seung-ho, Jo Su-haeng, Park Ji-hoon, and Jung Soobin, and Ahn Jae-seok's sacrifice fly, scoring four runs to take the lead again.

NC fired back. In the top of the 5th inning with two outs and a runner on first, NC narrowed the gap by one run after Ahn Jung-yeol drew a walk and Han Jae-hwan hit a double. NC then scored a lucky run in the top of the 7th inning.

Following Blaine Crim's single to left field and pinch hitter Kwon Hee-dong's walk, Ahn Jung-yeol hit a single to center field to load the bases with no outs. Han Jae-hwan then popped out to second base, after which Oh Tae-yang hit a ground ball toward third base. Third baseman Ahn Jae-seok threw to second, and second baseman Park Jun-soon caught it and attempted a throw to first for a double play, but the ball slipped through. What followed was even more problematic. While they could have tolerated tying the game, in the time it took to recover from the dropped ball, runner Choi Jeong-won on third base successfully scored the go-ahead run.

Ahn Jae-seok's decision not to throw home, his somewhat difficult throw, and Park Jun-soon's casual follow-through after recording an out at second base all left much to be desired.

Fortunately, luck also favored Doosan in the subsequent offensive inning. Ahn Jae-seok, who had shown disappointing defense, redeemed himself by reaching first on a high ground ball. Then, shortstop Kim Ju-won failed to catch Park Jun-soon's routine infield grounder as he tried to handle it awkwardly, allowing runners to remain safe at first and second bases. Following this, Yang Eui-ji's sacrifice fly advanced the runners one base each. After Severino drew an intentional walk, Kang Seung-ho hit a two-run go-ahead RBI single, bringing in both runners.

Regaining the lead, Doosan brought in Lee Byung-hun in the top of the 8th inning. With two outs, a first baseman's error occurred, so Kim Tae-yeon was brought in to get out of the jam.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, NC put Shin Young-woo on the mound, but Doosan extended their lead by two runs after Jung Soobin walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch, followed by an RBI hit from pinch hitter Yang Seok-hwan.

Kim Tae-yeon, who took the mound in the bottom of the 9th inning as well, retired Blaine Crim and Choi Jeong-won with ground balls to second base and struck out Ahn Jung-yeol to close out the game.

Meanwhile, NC's Park Min-woo successfully stole second base in the 3rd inning, recording his 50th stolen base of the season. A single-season 50-stolen-base mark is the first since 2014, a span of 12 years. Achieving this record at the age of 33 years and 7 months and 25 days, he became the fourth oldest player in history to reach this milestone.

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*This content was translated by AI.