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Bears defeat Heroes at home in battle of two struggling KBO clubs

Published: 09 Apr. 2026, 09:17

Doosan Bears starter Choi Min-seok pitches against the Kiwoom Heroes during the two clubs' KBO regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on April 8 in this photo provided by the Bears. [YONHAP]

The Doosan Bears got some early offense and solid pitching, as they beat the Kiwoom Heroes 7-3 at home on Wednesday in a battle of two struggling clubs in the KBO.

Bears captain Yang Eui-ji broke out of an early-season slump by collecting his first two RBIs of the season, and starter Choi Min-seok tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings for his first win of the season.

The Bears improved to 3-6-1 (wins-losses-ties) for the season, while the Heroes, who committed three errors and walked six batters in the loss, fell to 3-7-0.

The Bears scored twice in the bottom of the first inning off sophomore left-hander Chung Se-young, who was making just his second career start.

Park Chan-ho led off with a single and was sacrificed over to second before Park Jun-soon drove him home with a bloop single to shallow right field.

Yang, mired in a 3-for-32 slump to start the season, smoked a double to left as Park Jun-soon scored from first for a 2-0 lead. It was Yang's first extra-base hit of the season and gave him his first RBI of 2026.

The Bears took advantage of some sloppy play by the Heroes to extend their lead in the bottom fourth.

Kim Min-suk reached on a throwing error by shortstop Eo Joon-seo and later took second on Chung's wild pitch.

Kang Seung-ho then singled to center to cash in Kim for a 3-0 lead. As the throw by center fielder Lee Ju-hyoung skipped past catcher Kim Jae-hyun and into the backstop, Kang sprinted all the way to third base.

Kang scored on Yun Jun-ho's sacrifice fly to make it a 4-0 game, as right fielder Park Chan-hyeok's throw went just off target.

The lead grew to 5-0 in the fifth, thanks to Yang's sacrifice fly that came after a couple of walks by Chung.

Meanwhile, Choi kept stranding runners to keep the Heroes off the board. The right-hander pitched around two walks in the third and a leadoff single in the fourth.

Choi got into his first serious trouble in the top fifth, when he gave up a double, hit a batter and issued a walk with two outs. He then cleaned up his own mess by striking out Lee Ju-hyoung, who froze on a 0-2 two-seam fastball that caught the inside corner.

Choi was lifted after getting two outs in the sixth inning, with the Bears still up 5-0, and his teammates tacked on a couple more runs in the seventh, on a wild pitch by reliever Jhun Jun-pyo and an RBI knock by Kim Min-suk.

The Heroes' bats woke up against the Bears' bullpen in the top eighth, with Choi Joo-hwan's RBI single and Lee Hyung-jong's pinch-hit, two-run home run that cut the lead to 7-3.

Bears closer Kim Taek-yeon added a little drama at the top of the ninth when he loaded the bases on a single and two walks, but he struck out the final two batters to close out the win before 15,461 fans.

Bears manager Kim Won-hyong said the win was a total team effort.

“For the second straight game, Choi Min-seok did an excellent job as our starter, and our batters made life easy for him with five early runs,” the manager said. “Scoring the first run was crucial for us, and Yang Eui-ji's double gave us the early momentum.”

According to Yang, as happy as he was with the big hit, he still wasn't 100 percent at the plate.

“It's more important that we won the game,” he said. “Some young players such as Choi Min-seok stepped up today. I will try to find my rhythm quickly and help the team more.”

Yonhap