Kia Tigers ace Yang Hyeon-jong earned his first and so far only save in his 18-year Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) career in Game 5 of the 2017 Korean Series, recording the final three outs of his club's championship-clinching game. Seven years later, Yang will get the ball in a potential title-winning game, as the starter of Game 5 of the Korean Series at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, about 270 kilometers south of Seoul. The Tigers are taking a 3-1 series lead into the fifth game, sitting a win away from claiming their 12th title and their first since 2017. Yang was the Korean Series MVP seven years ago, having thrown a complete game shutout in Game 2 before earning the save. He is unlikely to repeat that honor this time, with some strong candidates among the position players, but the Tigers would be ecstatic if Yang can replicate his Game 2 performance from Wednesday. Yang held the Lions to two runs -- one unearned -- on eight hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings, and str uck out five batters in an 8-3 victory then. He became the oldest South Korean-born starter to win a Korean Series game at 36 years, seven months and 22 days old. Yang is a Tigers franchise icon, the first overall pick at the 2006 draft who has spent his entire 17-year KBO career with his hometown team. He is the KBO's all-time leader in strikeouts (2,076) and second in wins (179) and innings pitched (2,503 2/3). With their back against the wall, the Lions will send left-hander Lee Seung-hyun to the mound Monday. The Lions are trying to become only the second team in 18 tries to rally from a 3-1 deficit to capture the Korean Series title. The 2013 Lions are the only team to have pulled off that comeback. Lee was a starter in the regular season, but the Lions have used him out of the bullpen in the postseason. He threw one inning in relief in the first game of this series, allowing a run on a walk and a hit-by-pitch. He did have three strikeouts. Lions manager Park Jin-man has said it will be all hands on deck for his club Monday, with one more loss ending their season, and he will be ready to throw multiple bullpen arms at the Tigers from the early innings. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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