Ace Reyes shoves as Lions return to home run-hitting ways in 1st Korean Series win

Maybe baseball gods did help the Samsung Lions after all.

Their Dominican ace, Denyi Reyes, was originally scheduled to pitch in Game 3 of the Korean Series against the Kia Tigers, set for Thursday on four days’ rest. He had last pitched Saturday in the second round of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason against the LG Twins, tossing a season-high 110 pitches.

But multiple rain delays moved the third game by a day to Friday, giving Reyes an extra day of rest. It was the second time this postseason that Reyes had a scheduled start pushed back by inclement weather.

Asked Wednesday whether he thought baseball gods were helping him with extra rest, Reyes said with a smile, “I don’t know, but if that’s the case, I hope they still help me.”

It turned out Reyes didn’t need much help from above Friday night, as he pitched the Lions to a 4-2 victory at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul. It cut the series deficit to 2-1, with the teams set for Game 4 at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Reyes held the vaunted Tigers lineup to just a run on five hits in seven innings, while striking out seven and walking one.

After a clean first inning, Reyes gave up consecutive singles with one out in the top second, but escaped the jam unscathed by getting Seo Geon-chang to bounce into a 3-6-3 double play.

First baseman Lewin Diaz made a nifty backhand grab on the grounder down the line and then threw to second for the force, before receiving the throw back to complete the twin killing.

Reyes settled down to retire six straight batters, three of them via strikeouts.

In the fifth, it was left fielder Kim Hun-gon, not baseball gods, who came to Reyes’ aid.

With two outs and men at first and second, Kim made a crucial diving catch on a sinking line drive by Choi Won-jun. If Kim had missed it, both runners would have scored with the top of the lineup coming up next.

The Lions were nursing a 1-0 lead at that point on Lee Sung-gyu’s solo shot off Eric Lauer in the third. And after Kim’s defensive gem, Kim Young-woong doubled the Lions’ lead with a solo homer of his own in the bottom fifth.

Reyes finally cracked in the top sixth. Park Chan-ho led off with a single and stole second base, before Choi Hyoung-woo plated him with a single.

But Reyes avoided further damage by striking out Na Sung-bum.

With his pitch count at 95, Reyes came back out for the seventh.

During the regular season, between his 91st and 105th pitches, Reyes allowed his opponents to bat .375. But he retired the side in order in what turned out to be his final inning and struck out Kim Tae-gun looking at his 107th pitch, a slider.

Reyes didn’t throw anything straight: with 32 changeups, 23 sliders, eight cutters and eight two-seam fastballs. He now sports a tidy 0.87 ERA in 20 2/3 innings in the postseason.

“I feel great. It was an important game for us,” Reyes said in his postgame press conference. “Right now, of course, I am tired after the game, but I tried to work hard between starts to be ready for this situation. I know I am one of the main guys to pitch, so I will try to get ready (for the next outing).”

Knowing that the seventh inning would be his last, Reyes said he gave the slider everything he had.

“It was a great feeling,” Reyes said of getting the final strikeout. “I got through the seventh inning, and we had a really good opportunity to win the game.”

Reyes did not pitch well against the Tigers during the regular season, posting an 8.31 ERA in three starts. It was the worst ERA he had against any opponent this season, and he said he studied his own performances from those games to be ready for his revenge.

“I saw video on my games against Kia in the regular season, and I tried to do something different,” he said. “I tried to execute the right pitch in the situation.”

Reyes said he has been giving himself pep talks that he is one of the key pitchers for his team in this series. The absence of the team’s other foreign starter, Connor Seabold, due to a shoulder injury has made Reyes that much more important to the Lions.

Reyes himself said he isn’t feeling any added pressure just because Seabold is not around.

“Of course, we miss him because he is one of the main starters, but he can’t control the injury,” Reyes said. “I prepared my mind, saying I will be one of the main guys.”

The best home run-hitting club during the regular season with 185, the Lions sent two more balls over the fence in the bottom seventh. Kim Hun-gon ambushed reliever Jeon Sang-hyun on a first-pitch fastball to make it a 3-1 game, and Park Byung-ho followed by drilling the very next pitch for another solo shot, giving the Lions a 4-1 lead.

It was Park’s 14th career postseason home run, tying him with retired Lions icon Lee Seung-yuop at the top of the all-time list, and also his first hit in this Korean Series following a 0-for-11 funk with five strikeouts.

Park said he felt “a sense of relief” as he rounded the bases after the home run.

“In the earlier games of the series, I felt pretty good with my swing, but I just wasn’t getting the results,” Park said. “No matter how good you feel at the plate, if the slump goes on for too long, it can make you grab the bat really tight. I was lucky to hit that home run when we needed some extra runs,”

Park said he was surprised to see his teammates show even more emotion than Park himself after the home run.

“I felt like I was getting a ton of energy from those guys,” Park added. “I was so grateful. I could really feel that everybody was pulling for each other.”

In three postseason games at Daegu Samsung Lions Park this year, the Lions have launched 12 home runs. It was the most hitter-friendly stadium in the regular season with 216 homers in 71 games.

Park said he hoped the Lions could build on this momentum and keep hitting homers the rest of the series.

“This is where pitchers have to be really careful, and where hitters feel confident that they can overcome any deficit by hitting home runs,” Park said. “Throughout the year, hitting home runs and putting up big numbers has been our identity. I think hitting these homers today will help us the rest of the series.”