Lions power past Twins to open KBO postseason series
Kim Young-woong of the Samsung Lions rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, Oct. 13. Yonhap
The Samsung Lions hammered three home runs en route to a 10-4 victory over the LG Twins to begin their Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason series at home Sunday.
Captain Koo Ja-wook smacked a three-run shot as part of his three-hit day, while Kim Young-woong and Lewin Diaz contributed a home run apiece in Game 1 of the second round at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
Game 2 of this best-of-five series will be back at the Daegu stadium at 6:30 p.m. Monday.
Before a sellout crowd of 23,550 fans, Lions starter Denyi Reyes held the Twins to one earned run on four hits in 6 2/3 innings, while his counterpart, Choi Won-tae, was chased after allowing five runs on seven hits, including two long balls, in only three innings.
Daegu Samsung Lions Park lived up to its reputation as a hitter-friendly bandbox. It yielded the most home runs in the league in the regular season with 216 in 71 games, while the Lions led all teams with 185 dingers.
The Lions pounded out 14 hits, and every member of their starting lineup had at least a hit.
The Twins used nine pitchers in the loss, while the Lions used seven to get their 27 outs.
This was the Lions' first postseason win since Game 1 of the 2015 Korean Series on Oct. 26, 2015,
In the best-of-five second round, Game 1 winners have gone on to take the series 25 out of 33 times.
Both teams had two runners aboard in the first inning, but only the Lions were able to capitalize on their opportunity.
After a double and an infield single against starter Choi Won-tae put runners at the corners, cleanup Lewin Diaz drove in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to center.
Samsung Lions starter Denyi Reyes pitches against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, Oct. 13. Yonhap
The Lions then jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom third thanks to Koo's big blast.
They began the rally with two straight singles from the top of their order. Koo then drilled a 1-1 cutter from Choi and put it into the seats in right-center field for his second career postseason home run.
The Twins responded with a homer of their own in the top of the fourth, with Oh Ji-hwan slugging a solo homer off starter Denyi Reyes for the Twins' first hit of the game, making it a 4-1 contest.
But the Lions punched right back with another homer, as Kim Young-woong led off the bottom fourth with a solo homer that chased Choi from the game.
And they were not done hitting bombs. Against new pitcher Kim Jin-sung, Lewin Diaz smoked a two-run homer to put the Lions up 7-1.
The Twins put some pressure on the Lions in the top of the seventh.
Reyes got the hook after giving up a pair of singles, but reliever Song Eun-beom only lasted one batter, after getting struck in the left hand by a line drive off the bat of Moon Sung-ju.
The infield hit loaded the bases, and the Lions summoned Lee Seung-hyun, their scheduled starter for Wednesday's Game 3, from the bullpen.
Lee got Hong Chang-ki to chop a grounder toward first baseman Diaz for what should have been an inning-ending play. But the ball went off the heel of Diaz's glove, and two runners came around to score on the error to turn it into a 7-3 game.
Shin Min-jae then singled down the third base line to cut the Lions' lead to 7-4.
Reliever Kim Yun-su came on and struck out the dangerous Austin Dean on three pitches to put out the fire.
Koo Ja-wook of the Samsung Lions hits a three-run home run against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, Oct. 13. Yonhap
The Lions went back up by four in the bottom seventh, thanks to Lee Jae-hyeon's sacrifice fly with the bases loaded.
The Lions tagged on two more runs in the eighth on two wild pitches by reliever Kim Dae-hyun
Though the Lions were playing in their first game since their regular-season finale on Sept. 28, the Twins, who had closed out the first round of the postseason Friday, looked to be the rustier team in this game.
Other than Oh's fourth-inning homer, the Twins only managed three singles against Reyes, who left the game to a thunderous ovation with two outs in the seventh inning.
Choi Won-tae's postseason woes continued Sunday. After serving up five earned runs in three innings, Choi now has an 11.16 ERA in 17 career postseason games, along with a 0-1 record.
The Lions will send right-hander Won Tae-in to the mound to start Game 2 on Monday.
Won won a career-high 15 games in the regular season to tie for the league lead, while pitching to a 3.66 ERA.
In two starts against the Twins, Won went 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA, after allowing five earned runs on 13 hits in 11 innings.
Among Twins regulars, five players had two hits apiece against Won, and Moon Bo-gyeong was the only one to homer off the right-hander.
The Twins will counter with left-hander Dietrich Enns, who pitched twice in the previous series against the KT Wiz.
The American pitcher was ineffective in those two outings, giving up seven runs on 11 hits in 8 2/3 innings. Against the Lions during the regular season, Enns posted a 0-1 record and a 3.00 ERA in two outings covering 12 innings.
He surrendered a home run apiece to Kang Min-ho and Kim Young-woong, but did not allow any other extra-base hit. (Yonhap)