SEOUL, In a matchup between two clubs stuck in South Korean baseball's middle-class purgatory, the Doosan Bears hammered the Kiwoom Heroes 13-4 on the road Tuesday. Staying dry inside Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on this rainy evening, Bears cleanup Yang Eui-ji blasted two solo home runs to lead the onslaught, while No. 5 hitter Yang Suk-hwan had three doubles and three RBIs. By winning their third straight game, the Bears improved to 19-19, returning to the .500 mark for the first time since March 31, when they were 4-4. The Heroes, meanwhile, fell to 15-20 with their fourth loss in a row. The Bears and the Heroes entered Tuesday ranked sixth and seventh in the 10-team league, and had traded places over the past dozen days. After going down quietly against Heroes starter Lee Jong-min in the first inning, the Bears got to the left-hander in the second inning. Yang Eui-ji led things off with a solo home run, his 250th career homer. Then No. 9 hitter Jo Soo-haeng had an RBI single, and Jung Soo-bin cashed i n two more runs with a triple for a 4-0 Bears lead. Yang added to that advantage with his second solo shot of the game in the third inning. Staked to a 5-0 lead early, Gwak was hardly tested, as he held the Heroes to just two singles over the first four scoreless innings. The Bears pulled ahead even further in the top fifth. With one out and a runner at first, Lee Jong-min elected to intentionally walk Yang Eui-ji rather than risking giving up another home run. But the decision backfired, as the next batter, Yang Suk-hwan, brought both runners home with a double that put the Bears up 7-0. Kim Ki-yeon's follow-up single made it an 8-0 game. The Heroes finally solved Gwak with three runs in the sixth inning. They loaded the bases with two singles that sandwiched an error, and Gwak's wild pitch with Song Sung-mun at the plate scored the Heroes' first run. Song then singled to right field after an 11-pitch battle to cut the deficit to 8-3. The Bears got a run back in the top seventh thanks to Yang Suk-hwa n's RBI double. Kim Whee-jip responded for the Heroes with a solo home run in the bottom seventh, only to see the Bears score four runs in the top eighth to go up 13-4. Yang Eui-ji collected his third RBI of the game with a single during that frame. The Bears pounded out 17 hits, and eight of their nine starters recorded at least a hit. Gwak gave up two earned runs on six hits in six innings to improve to 2-4 this season, while lowering his ERA from 4.50 to 4.30. The right-hander has now won two consecutive starts, after going 0-4 over his first six outings. He has limited opponents to three earned runs over his past 18 1/3 innings, after surrendering 25 earned runs in his first 27 2/3. Gwak later thanked his teammates for putting up crooked numbers early and giving him plenty of breathing room. "I was able to relax a bit on the mound with the run support I got," Gwak said. "I didn't necessarily pitch a great game. My teammates swung the bat really well." Gwak attributed his early-season woes to some b ad luck and added, "I kept on battling because I knew I wasn't going to struggle all season long." He said he was proud of being the winning pitcher in a game that pushed the Bears back to .500. "I think our climb up the standings is just getting started," Gwak said. "If we can all do our part, then we can go even higher." Bears manager Lee Seung-yuop was effusive of Gwak's effort, saying he helped save the bullpen by going six solid innings. The biggest star, though, was Yang Eui-ji. "He called a great game from behind the dish and hit a couple of home runs," Lee said of his catcher. "Our lineup made life easy for Gwak Been. We had the momentum on our side early on and never lost it." The Heroes are now at their season-worst five games under .500. They were 12-6 on April 16, 1.5 games out of first place, but their 3-14 record since then is the worst mark in the Korean Baseball Organization in that span. Source: Yonhap News Agency