In brief
In a pivotal Game 5 of the KBO postseason, Tigers owner manager Lee Bum‑ho reused the Game 4 lineup in an effort to strengthen the back‑stop and counter the automated ball‑strike system. The Division tied 2‑2, with the winner moving on to face the KT Wiz in the Korean Series.
On Sunday night, Kia Tigers manager Lee Bum‑ho kept the same batting lineup from Game 4 in the KBO postseason series against the Samsung Lions.
The series stands at 2‑2, making the winner advance to the Korean Series, where the Tigers would play the KT Wiz in Suwon.
Game 5 is held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, South Korea.
Lee chose to use the exact order that earned the Tigers ten hits in their 4‑2 Game 4 win.
He moved Kim Do‑yeong to second, Harold Castro to third and Na Sung‑bum to cleanup to put the biggest hitters early.
Lee said the move was to boost the top of the lineup and keep the club’s home‑run threat near the start.
Lee Bum‑ho said:
We won Game 4 with this lineup and we just don’t have guys that are swinging the bat well who can hit in front of Do‑yeong. This is not that big of a ballpark and we wanted to have our home‑run threats hitting higher up in the lineup. I felt it would give us the best chance to win.
The Tigers have struggled to control fastballs up in the zone, especially with the league’s new automated ball‑strike system that calls high pitches automatically.
Lee also said:
We have to look for mistakes toward the middle of the zone. We feel we are prepared to handle those high pitches for this game. But it will ultimately come down to how many mistakes we will get and how we can best pounce on them.
Although the Tigers won Game 1 and won Game 4, they dropped the next two games and are looking to finish the series before heading to the Korean Series.
