Aces high: Homegrown starter outduels American counterpart in Korean Series showdown

▲ Chris Flexen of the Doosan Bears pitches against the NC Dinos in Game 5 of the Korean Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 23, 2020. (Yonhap)

▲ Koo Chang-mo of the NC Dinos pitches against the Doosan Bears in Game 5 of the Korean Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 23, 2020. (Yonhap)

▲ Koo Chang-mo of the NC Dinos smiles during Game 5 of the Korean Series against the Doosan Bears at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 23, 2020. (Yonhap)

▲ Koo Chang-mo of the NC Dinos pitches against the Doosan Bears in Game 5 of the Korean Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 23, 2020. (Yonhap)

Korean Series-pitching

Aces high: Homegrown starter outduels American counterpart in Korean Series showdown

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- A hyped-up pitching matchup in the South Korean baseball championship series didn't disappoint on Monday, with a homegrown starter getting the upper hand on his American counterpart.

Koo Chang-mo of the NC Dinos tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out five, helping his club shut out the Doosan Bears 5-0 in Game 5 of the Korean Series on Monday.

Koo scattered five hits and walked two batters at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul for his first postseason victory.

For the Bears, Chris Flexen was charged with three runs on five hits in six innings to take the loss -- this after being perfect through 3 2/3 innings.

Flexen looked more dominant early on. He was perfect through three innings, needing only 44 pitches to retire the first nine batters he faced. He sat down the first two in the fourth inning before allowing two straight singles. But he got Kang Jin-sung to strike out swinging on a high fastball to keep the Dinos off the board.

Koo let the Bears create some traffic on the bases but wiggled out of one jam after another.

In the second, Koo gave up a walk and a double with one out, but dug deep and retired the next two batters on a lineout and a groundout.

Koo allowed two straight singles with two outs in the third, but retired cleanup Kim Jae-hwan on a soft grounder to first.

Koo had his first three-up, three-down inning in the fourth, when he struck out two and needed just nine pitches to retire the side in order.

After one out, Koo got Choi Joo-hwan to fan on a 0-2 slider, and then froze Park Sei-hyok on a 0-2 fastball.

The left-hander dodged another bullet with two outs in the fifth, when Heo Kyoung-min doubled off the left field fence. Koo kept him there by retiring Jung Soo-bin on a grounder to second.

Flexen blinked first in the bottom fifth. He walked No Jin-hyuk on four pitches to start the inning, and No reached second on a follow-up groundout. Flexen battled Aaron Altherr for six pitches before the dangerous No. 8 hitter singled up the middle to score No for a 1-0 lead.

With that slim lead, Koo went back out and sat down three straight batters in the sixth, and did so in only 10 pitches.

The Dinos added two more runs in the bottom sixth, courtesy of a two-run homer by Koo's batterymate, Yang Eui-ji. Flexen was gone after six.

That was more than Koo needed, and the lefty pitched a clean seventh inning using just 10 pitches again, with two flyouts sandwiching a soft lineout to shortstop.

The Dinos supplied two more runs for their ace in the bottom seventh. And with 92 pitches through seven, Koo went back out for the eighth inning.

Perhaps cooled off after an extended half inning, Koo promptly gave up a leadoff triple to Park Kun-woo, and Koo's night was done.

Reliever Kim Jin-sung made sure Koo would finish with seven shutout innings, retiring the next three batters and extending his own scoreless streak to 5 2/3 innings in this series.

The Bears sent four relievers while allowing two runs in the bottom seventh. In contrast, Kim and closer Won Jong-hyan combined for two scoreless innings for the Dinos.

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