NC Dinos vs Doosan Bears

NC struck first and struck hard. Two runs crossed in the bottom of the first off Doosan starter Wes Benjamin, and another in the second gave the Dinos a 3-0 lead after two frames.

Benjamin settled after that rocky start, finishing with 5 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs (1 earned), 2 walks and 5 strikeouts on 92 pitches.

NC starter Riley Thompson cruised through four scoreless innings, striking out five over that stretch. But Doosan solved him in the fifth. Yoon Joon-ho launched a solo home run — his fourth of the season — to left field to put the Bears on the board.

Yang Eui-ji made it back-to-back solo shots in the sixth, his 16th homer of the year, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

Doosan tied the game in the eighth when Kim Min-seok singled to right-centre, scoring Jo Soo-haeng. The stage was set for the ninth-inning explosion.

With the score tied 3-3 in the top of the ninth, Doosan loaded the bases against NC reliever Son Joo-hwan with two outs. Yang Eui-ji worked a full-count walk to force in the go-ahead run — officially the game-winning RBI — and Jung Soo-bin followed with a two-run single to centre, extending the lead to 6-3.

NC answered with a run in the bottom half on a sacrifice fly by Ahn Joong-yeol, but Lee Young-ha closed it out to earn the save.

Yang Eui-ji (Doosan): 1-for-2, solo HR (16th), 2 RBI, 2 walks, go-ahead bases-loaded walk in the 9th. The veteran catcher delivered in the clutch.

Jo Soo-haeng (Doosan): 3-for-4, walk, stolen base, scored the game-tying run in the 8th. Set the table all night from the leadoff spot.

Riley Thompson (NC): 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 88 pitches. A quality start undone by two solo homers and a bullpen that could not hold the line.

Yoon Joon-ho (Doosan): 1-for-3, solo HR (4th), walk. His fifth-inning blast got Doosan on the board and shifted momentum.

The official box score tells the story of a game NC controlled early but could not close:

• Home runs: Yoon Joon-ho (4) solo off Thompson in 5th; Yang Eui-ji (16) solo off Thompson in 6th
• Winning pitcher: Kim Taek-yeon (Doosan) — 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
• Losing pitcher: Son Joo-hwan (NC) — 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Save: Lee Young-ha (Doosan) — 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• Hold: Lee Yong-joon (NC) — 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
• Doubles: Blaine (NC)
• Stolen bases: Jo Soo-haeng (Doosan)

NC's 3-0 lead evaporated as Doosan's bullpen trio of Kim Jung-woo, Takada and Kim Taek-yeon combined for 3 scoreless innings before the ninth-inning rally. Thompson's quality start (6 IP, 2 ER) went for nothing as the NC bullpen surrenderd four runs in the final two frames.

The win moves Doosan to 56-48-4, keeping them 2.5 games behind 4th-place KIA Tigers in the KBO standings. For NC (46-53-2, 7th), the loss drops them 7.5 games behind Doosan in the race for a postseason berth.

The series continues Wednesday (19 August) with game two at Changwon NC Park. The teams also play a third game on Thursday (20 August).

A textbook veteran performance from Yang Eui-ji and a resilient Doosan bullpen turned a 3-0 deficit into a comfortable win. Thompson deserved better, but NC's inability to score after the second inning — shut out for six straight frames — proved fatal against a Doosan team that keeps finding ways to win close games.