Twins rally past Wiz, take 2-1 Korean Series lead

Players from the LG Twins celebrate their victory against the KT Wiz in Game 3 of the 2023 Korean Series held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Nov. 10. Yonhap

The LG Twins staged a ninth-inning rally to defeat the KT Wiz 8-7 on Friday and build a 2-1 lead in the Korean Series.

Captain Oh Ji-hwan hammered a go-ahead, three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, as the Twins got the last laugh in the back-and-forth game with multiple lead changes.

These two teams had split the first two games at the Twins' home, Jamsil Baseball Stadium, earlier this week.

The Korean Series had been tied at 1-1 on 17 previous occasions, and the team that won Game 3 has gone on to capture the title 15 times.

The Twins scored all eight of their runs via home runs: a three-run shot by Austin Dean in the third, a two-run dinger by Park Dong-won in the sixth and Oh's game-winner in the ninth.

The Wiz had come back from a 5-4 deficit in the bottom eighth with Hwang Jae-gyun's RBI double and Park Byung-ho's two-run bomb.

The Wiz had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom ninth, but Kim Sang-su grounded into a 1-2-3, game-ending double play.

After the teams wasted chances in the first two frames, the Twins broke out in the top third.

With one out, Wiz starter Wes Benjamin gave up a single and a walk. He retired Kim Hyun-soo on a groundout, but then Austin Dean, who'd struck out with two men on in the first inning, got his revenge this time with a three-run homer off the left foul pole, putting the Twins ahead 3-0.

The Wiz kept creating traffic on the base paths against Twins starter Im Chan-kyu, and finally broke through in the bottom third, thanks to Hwang Jae-gyun's double that cut it to 3-1.

The Wiz wasted a golden opportunity in the bottom fourth. A pair of singles knocked Im from the game with two outs, and reliever Kim Jin-sung issued a walk to load the bases.

No. 2 hitter Kim Sang-su got into a full count battle, only to fly out to right field.

Captain Oh Ji-hwan of the LG Twins hit a three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning during Game 3 of the 2023 KBO Korean Series against the KT Wiz at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Nov. 10. Yonhap

The Wiz kept knocking on the door, and their persistence paid off in the bottom fifth, when they put up a three-spot to take a 4-3 lead.

With one out and a runner on first against reliever Jung Woo-young, Jang Sung-woo hit a chopper at shortstop Oh Ji-hwan, who charged but completely missed the ball on what should have been an inning-ending double play.

Left fielder Moon Sung-ju then made an errant throw to third trying to nab the lead runner, Park Byung-ho. With two errors on one play, the Wiz suddenly had runners at second and third.

The Twins summoned Ham Deok-ju from the bullpen, and pinch hitter Kim Min-hyuck singled off the left-hander to knock in a run and cut it to 3-2.

Anthony Alford then delivered a game-tying double to right field, chasing Ham from the game.

Two batters later, Cho Yong-ho brought home the go-ahead run with a single off new reliever Baek Seung-hyeon, as the Wiz took a 4-3 lead.

But the Twins responded immediately in the top sixth, with a familiar hero once again taking center stage.

After Moon Bo-gyeong led off the frame with a single off Benjamin, Son Dong-hyun came out in relief to face Park Dong-won, who'd smoked a go-ahead, two-run dinger in the bottom eighth of Game 2 to lift the Twins to a 5-4 win.

This time, Park destroyed a 2-1 fastball from Son and drove it completely out of the stadium, as the Twins went ahead 5-4.

The Twins brought closer Go Woo-suk in for the eighth inning, asking him to get a six-out save. The Wiz, though, had other ideas.

Bae Jung-dae greeted Go with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Hwang Jae-gyun then came through with his second RBI double of the game to tie the score, and Park Byung-ho followed up with a two-run blast that put the Wiz up 7-5.

And then it was the Twins' turn to rough up the Wiz's closer, Kim Jae-yoon.

Kim gave up a leadoff single to Hong Chang-ki before retiring the next two batters. But then Kim lost a seven-pitch battle to walk Dean, bringing Oh Ji-hwan to the plate representing the go-ahead run.

And Oh put an exclamation point on the night, turning on a middle-middle fastball and depositing it into the right field seats for an improbable comeback.

Go returned for the ninth inning but couldn't finish off the deal. After one out, he hit a batter and gave up a single before getting the hook in favor of Yi Jung-yong.

But Yi threw a wild pitch with Bae Jung-dae at the plate, moving the runners to second and third. Yi intentionally walked Bae to load the bases and bring the double play in order.

Kim Sang-su, who had missed out on a bases-loaded opportunity in the fourth inning, couldn't get it done this time, either. He hit a comebacker to Yi, who threw home to start the 1-2-3 double play that ended the four-hour marathon of a game.

Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb said Dean's third-inning home run gave his team early momentum after Benjamin kept them at bay in the early innings.

"We couldn't stay out in front, but our hitters came through in the end," Youm said. "I think we came into this game with a lot of confidence from Game 2, and our players showed the passion and determination needed to win a game this time of year. They were really locked in."

The losing skipper Lee Kang-chul said he felt the Wiz played well but "the luck was on the other side."

"At least the lineup came to life a bit. We'll try to play better tomorrow," Lee added.

The bright spot for the Wiz was the performance of two sluggers who recorded their first hits of the Korean Series. Cleanup Park Byung-ho went 2-for-5 with a home run, while Anthony Alford, dropped from No. 3 to No. 7 in the lineup, also had two hits. (Yonhap)