Manager Lee Seung-yup replaces Yang Seok-hwan in the ninth inning: "We need to think about winning"

Doosan head coach Lee Seung-yeop applauds his players during the ninth inning of the baseball game between the Lotte Giants and the Doosan Bears during the '2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League' at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea, on July 26.

"It was a situation where we had to think about team victory."

Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop reflects on his team's game against the Samsung Lions on July 8, explaining why he replaced Yang Seok-hwan with pinch-hitter Lee Yoo-chan in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Doosan pulled off an 8-7 come-from-behind victory over Samsung on Aug. 8. They trailed 6-7 in the eighth inning, but scored two runs off Kim Tae-hoon in the bottom of the ninth to win the game in dramatic fashion.

With the win, sixth-ranked Doosan has won two straight games and closed the gap on the fifth-ranked KIA Tigers to two games. The win was worth more than just one game.

In particular, Lee's bold move in the bottom of the ninth inning stood out.

After the leadoff hitter, Kim Jae-hwan, drew a walk, Lee replaced him with pinch-hitter Yang Seok-hwan. It wasn't an easy decision to leave out Yang, who has 18 home runs this season and had a multi-hit game with one RBI.

"It was a tough call," Lee told reporters before the game on Sept. 9. If the pinch-hitting hadn't worked, I could have said something. But we needed a win, and it was important to put runners in scoring position reliably, so I explained the situation to (Yang) Seok-hwan, and he was happy to accept and pinch-hit."

As a result, Doosan tied the game at 7-7 when pinch-hitter Lee Yoo-chan laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners on first and second, and Kang Seung-ho singled up the middle.

With runners on first and second, Doosan scored the winning run when Samsung third baseman Ryu Ji-hyuk made a throwing error on a hard-hit ball hit by pinch-hitter Park Kye-beom.

Lee said, "Every game is important, but yesterday's win means a lot. We had to take the first game of the four-game series against Samsung because it's time to give it our all. I think it's rewarding to win after all the hard work. All the players did a great job," he said.

Doosan will play a doubleheader against Samsung on the 9th. They will need a strong start from Jang Won-jun in game one to continue their winning streak. Samsung will start ace David Buchanan in game one.

"Yesterday, (Jang) Won-jun said he was going to get (David) Buchanan.said, gostopsite 'Let's fight,'" Lee said, hoping for a strong performance from Jang.