The KIA Tigers defeated the LG Twins to cut the gap to one game.

KIA beat LG 5-4 on the 3rd at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. With this, fourth-place KIA closed to within one game of third-place LG, intensifying the race for the direct ticket to the wild-card round.

KIA led 4-1 through the fifth inning, but allowed LG to rally, surrendering one run in the sixth and two runs in the seventh to allow a 4-4 tie. In the ninth, with one out and runners on first and third, Kim Sun-bin attempted a surprise squeeze bunt and produced the go-ahead run.

Kim Sun-bin attempted a push bunt toward first base, but the batted ball curled as it rolled along the first-base foul line. First baseman Lee Young-bin fielded the ball just in front of the line, and with the runner at third already close to home, a throw home was impractical. He threw to first and retired the batter-runner.

If, in the ninth with the score tied and a play at the plate unlikely, they had left a ball that could have been foul alone. In a one-run game, even if it becomes an infield hit, the decision was regrettable.

After the game, Kim Sun-bin joked to reporters, “I didn’t do much; the sign came, so I just followed the sign.” Kim Sun-bin finished with a squeeze bunt in the ninth among a line of three at-bats, one hit, one walk, one RBI and one run scored.

How did the squeeze bunt sign come? Kim Sun-bin said, “(Before I went to the batter’s box) I was already thinking about bunting. I was planning to bunt if I got one strike, and after the first pitch was a ball, the bench happened to give the squeeze bunt sign.” He added, “So I just felt more at ease and bunted. (Holding the bat long) I just thought to roll it toward first. I mis-hit it, but fortunately…(they fielded it).”

What would have happened to the batted ball if the first baseman had not fielded it? Running to first from the batter’s box, Kim Sun-bin was in the best position to see the ball’s direction. Kim Sun-bin said, “I think it was foul. I think it would have been foul. But if it had been foul, I would have bunted again afterward.”

KIA led 4-1 early, allowed the tie, and after a fierce battle managed to win. Kim Sun-bin said, “I thought it would be hard to predict. Even though we scored early, we had several chances to pull away but couldn’t, so I was worried,” adding, “But since we didn’t give up the lead, I felt more at ease, and then Sang-hyun pitched so well that the hitters were able to push for runs.”

Jeon Sang-hyun came in with the score tied 4-4 and no outs with a runner on first in the eighth, faced a bases-loaded threat after a defensive error but escaped without allowing a run. In the bottom of the ninth, he again faced a one-out, runner-on-third threat and retired Austin and Lee Young-bin on consecutive infield flyouts to preserve the one-run win.

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