Four early runs allowed by starter Osvaldo Martinez dug a hole too deep for the Sinon Bulls to overcome as they dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to the Samsung Lions on Saturday in Tokyo to finish the 2005 Konami Cup Asia Series 1-2.
The South Koreans ended 2-1 after the first round to earn the right to face the unbeaten Lotte Marines in yesterday's championship game.
The Bulls got off to a shaky start in Saturday's contest with a wild Martinez loading up the bases on two issued walks and a hit-batsman, allowing the Lions to score three runs with two sacrifice flies and a Bulls error in the first inning -- all of this without even getting a hit.
PHOTO: AP
Park Han-yi's infield single in the bottom of the second, coupled with another Bulls' throwing error, made it 4-0 in favor of the Lions, a lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
Held hitless over the first four innings by Lions starter Tim Harikkala, the Bulls offense finally came to life in the fifth, registering three hits against the American righty for three runs, making it 4-3.
Rookie slugger Hsu Guo-long led off the inning with a clean double and advanced to third one out later, before catcher Yeh Jung-chang knocked him in with an infield single and Yu Shien-ming followed with a two-run single.
PHOTO: AP
The three fifth-inning runs by the Bulls prompted Lions manager Sun Dong-yol to alter his game plan, sending in a slew of relievers on a one-man-per-inning basis to keep the Bulls from scoring.
Top setup man Kwon Oh-joon held the Bulls to one hit in the sixth -- their final one for the game, as Bae Young-soo (ace of the staff), An Ji-man and Oh Seung-hwang (Rookie of the Year winner and Korea Series MVP) secured a hitless inning to preserve the 4-3 win for the Lions.
Even though the Bulls didn't allow another run after the second inning with Jorge Cortez's six innings of near-perfect relief (allowing two hits and a walk, while fanning four), it wasn't enough to turn the game around.
Harikkala was credited with the win for his five innings of solid effort, allowing three runs on five hits, while Martinez took the tough loss for his early miscues.
Offensively for the Bulls, rookie tandem Hsu and Yu accounted for three of their four hits in the game, masking veteran big guns Tseng Hua-wei, Chang "Prince of the Forest" Tai-shan and Huang Chung-yi, who went a combined 0-for-12 in the game.
Marines 5, Lions 3
Bobby Valentine's Chiba Lotte Marines are now the best pro-league team in Asia.
Masato Watanabe hit a two-run homer to left in the bottom of the fourth inning at Tokyo Dome yesterday as the Nippon Series champion Marines downed South Korea's Samsung Lions 5-3 to win the inaugural Konami Cup.
Benny Agbayani, who drove in three runs in Saturday's 3-1 win over China and was named series Most Valuable Player, gave the Marines a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third with a single to left.
Marines starter Shunsuke Watanabe picked up the win after holding the Lions to one run on eight hits over six innings. Reliever Soichi Fujita worked a scoreless seventh before being replaced by Yasuhiko Yabuta.
Closer Masahide Kobayashi retired the side in the ninth and picked up the save.
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