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Groundskeepers bring out the tarp at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 270 kilometers south of Seoul, with Game 1 of the Korean Series between the Kia Tigers and the Samsung Lions in rain delay on Monday. (Yonhap) |
The opening game of the South Korean baseball championship series was suspended by rain in the southern city of Gwangju on Monday, the first such occurrence in Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason history.
Game 1 of the Korean Series between the home team Kia Tigers and the Samsung Lions was put on hold at 9:24 p.m., with the Lions leading 1-0 in the top of the sixth inning at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 270 kilometers south of Seoul. The Lions had runners at first and second, and Kim Young-woong at a 1-0 count against reliever Jang Hyun-sik.
And at 10:09 p.m., the umpiring crew decided to suspend the game.
The game is scheduled to resume at 4 p.m. Tuesday from the point of termination, prior to the regularly scheduled Game 2.
If the game ends before 5:30 p.m., then Game 2 will begin at 6:30 p.m. as scheduled. If the game goes beyond 5:30 p.m., then the second game will start one hour after the end of the first game.
The start of Monday's game was delayed by about an hour due to intermittent showers. After the pregame ceremony and player introduction, the first pitch was thrown at 7:36 p.m.
Groundskeepers brought out the tarp, rolled it back, only to unroll it again multiple times before the game. A sellout crowd of 19,300 cheered each time the grounds crew came out to remove the tarp, hoping the most-anticipated game of the season would start.
The skies opened up again during the top of the first and again during the bottom of the fourth inning.
With more rain in the forecast here Tuesday, the suspended game may not be completed until Wednesday at the earliest.
The Lions took the 1-0 lead on Kim Hun-gon's solo home run to lead off the top sixth, minutes before the umpires decided to stop the proceedings.
