LG Twins defeat Nexen Heroes 4-1 to take 2-1 lead in 1st round playoffs

Yoo Kang-nam of the LG Twins, right, high-fives base coach Yoo Ji-hyeon after hitting a two-run homer during his team’s first-round playoff game of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southeastern Seoul, Sunday. The Twins won 4-1 to take a 2-1 series lead. / Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

LG Twins defeated Nexen Heroes 4-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Twins only need to win one more game to face the NC Dinos in the second round of playoffs. The Twins started the best-of-five series with a 7-0 win Thursday but gave the second game to the Heroes after losing 5-1 on Friday. The two Seoul-based teams will have their fourth match on Monday.

Though it was expected to rain at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southeastern Seoul, the third game between the two teams hosted capacity crowds with a total of 25,000 tickets sold.

It was the Twins who got ahead in the game. At the bottom of the fourth inning with a runner on second base and two outs, Twins catcher Yoo Kang-nam hit a two-run home run off Heroes starting pitcher Shin Jae-young to make the score 2-0. With the homer, the 24-year-old was named MVP of the game.

While Yoo had the biggest role in offence, the team’s starting pitcher Dustin Huff shined on the mound. Throwing a solid seven innings, the American southpaw only allowed one run, five hits and one walk with three strikeouts to become a winning pitcher. This was his first win in the postseason.

The 32-year-old started the first game of the wild-card round against the Kia Tigers but took a loss after allowing four runs in seven innings. However, his fastball-changeup combo worked best on Sunday as he baffled the Heroes’ batters.

Throwing 98 pitches, Huff only allowed a run in the early fifth as Heroes infielder Kim Ji-soo hit a single to right field to bring second-base runner Lee Taek-keun home. The pitcher’s highlight came on the seventh inning as he pitched a scoreless inning with a runner on third base and one out. He sawed off Lee on a pop fly to first base and struck out Kim.

The Twins added two more runs in the following bottom seventh. Kim Yong-eui hit a single to left. The next hitter Lee Chung-woong hit a sacrifice bunt to send Kim to second base but Heroes catcher Park Dong-won made a wild throw to first base, allowing both runners to be safe at first and second.

The Twins loaded the bases with no outs as Park Yong-taek worked a walk. With one out, Oh Ji-hwan took a walk to force in a run. The Twins added one more run after Yang Suk-hwan made an infield hit for a 4-1 lead.

After Huff threw seven innings, the Twins finished the game using their setup man Jeong Chan-heon in the eighth and closer Lim Jung-woo in the ninth.

The fourth game will take place at Jamsil Baseball Stadium again on Monday. The Twins will start Ryu Jae-kuk while the Heroes will start Scott McGregor.