KIA Tigers vs Doosan Bears

Doosan struck first. The Bears scratched a run across against KIA starter Adam Oller in the opening frame, manufacturing a lead behind their league-leading offence.

KIA answered in the fourth. Park Jae-hyun crushed a solo home run off Doosan ace Kwak Been — a no-doubt shot to left centre that tied the game at 1-1 and re-energised the sell-out crowd of 20,500 at Champions Field.

The decisive sequence came in the sixth. Kwak Been, dominant through seven innings otherwise, saw a ground ball go through his infield defence for a costly error. The unearned runner came around to score, putting KIA ahead 2-1 — all the margin Oller and the bullpen would need.

Doosan's infield error in the sixth inning. Kwak Been had scattered seven hits across seven frames and allowed only one earned run, but the defensive lapse behind him turned a 1-1 deadlock into a 2-1 deficit he could not overcome. The Bears had no answer against the KIA bullpen down the stretch.

Adam Oller (KIA): W (11-8), 7 IP, 1 ER — the KIA starter delivered a quality start-plus, scattering hits and keeping the Bears off the board after the first inning. The win moved him into sole possession of the KBO lead with 11 victories.

Kwak Been (Doosan): L (9-5), 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R (1 ER) — a tragic line for the Doosan ace, who pitched well enough to win but was betrayed by his defence. The loss snapped his remarkable 7-game winning streak in Gwangju away starts dating back to 2018.

Lee Eui-ri (KIA): SV (2), 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K on 12 pitches — summoned to protect a one-run lead in the ninth, the KIA closer was untouchable. He blew away Jung Soo-bin with a 156 km/h fastball for a swinging strikeout, then induced ground balls from Park Jun-soon and Ahn Jae-seok to seal the game in a perfect 12-pitch frame.

Park Jae-hyun (KIA): 1-for-3, HR, RBI — his solo shot off Kwak Been was the emotional hinge of the game, wiping out Doosan's early lead and setting the stage for the decisive rally.

The 2-1 final scoreline undersold the quality of the pitching on both sides. Combined, Oller and Kwak Been threw 14 innings and allowed only two earned runs — a 1.29 ERA between them. The game's deciding run was unearned, a reminder that in low-scoring KBO contests, defensive execution often separates the winner from the loser. KIA's bullpen, led by Lee Eui-ri's 12-pitch perfect frame, retired all six batters they faced after Oller exited.

KIA Tigers (56-48-2, .538) jumped past Doosan Bears (55-48-4, .534) into fourth place in the KBO standings with the series victory. The two teams are separated by the slimmest of margins in the race for a post-season berth, and this head-to-head result gives KIA the psychological edge. KIA took the series 2-1 following a 6-1 win on 15 August; Doosan's loss also ended their long-standing Gwangju hex.

A classic KBO pitchers' duel settled by a single defensive mistake. Oller and Kwak Been both deserved a win, but Lee Eui-ri's ninth-inning dominance was the difference-maker. KIA's formula — quality starts plus a lockdown closer — looks increasingly dangerous as the pennant race tightens.