The Samsung Lions defeated the Doosan Bears 5-4 in 10 innings on April 28 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, snapping a seven-game losing streak. Ace starter Ariel Jurado pitched seven scoreless innings but earned a no-decision after the bullpen collapsed. Jurado notched his sixth straight quality start, maintaining a 2-1 record with a 1.62 ERA.
The Samsung Lions snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 5-4 victory over the Doosan Bears in 10 innings at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on April 28. The Lions blew a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth but rallied in the top of the 10th on Kim Seong-yoon's tiebreaking single, steal, and Choi Hyoung-woo's RBI single for a 5-3 advantage. The Bears scored once in the bottom half but stranded runners.
Starter Ariel Jurado delivered seven shutout innings with a season-high seven strikeouts and no walks. This marked his sixth consecutive quality start, with just four earned runs allowed over 33 innings in five April outings. The bullpen surrendered three runs in the ninth, denying him the win. Jurado said, "It's still early in the season and my mindset going into this game was to just do my job. Over the course of a season, there will be good days and some bad days."
Jurado baffled hitters with his six-pitch mix including two-seamer, slider, changeup, four-seamer, cutter, and curveball. In the fourth, he struck out the Bears' 3-4-5 hitters on different pitches: two-seamer to Park Jun-soon, changeup to Yang Eui-ji, and four-seamer to Yang Suk-hwan. He reduced four-seam usage to a career-low 18% from 34.2% last year while increasing two-seamer to 27.8%.
Kim Seong-yoon, returning from an oblique injury since April 4, went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs. He credited luck for his go-ahead hit and a close play at the plate. The Lions improved to 13-11-1.
