baseball postseason-players
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| ▲ Kim Min-sung of the LG Twins hits an RBI single against the Doosan Bears during the top of the second inning in Game 2 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 5, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Kim Min-sung of the LG Twins celebrates his RBI single against the Doosan Bears during the top of the seventh inning in Game 2 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 5, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ LG Twins' starter Casey Kelly celebrates after striking out Jose Miguel Fernandez of the Doosan Bears to end the bottom of the fifth inning in Game 2 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 5, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ LG Twins' starter Casey Kelly pitches against the Doosan Bears during the bottom of the fifth inning in Game 2 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 5, 2021. (Yonhap) |
baseball postseason-players
Veteran goes from goat to hero, starter stays perfect to keep Twins alive in KBO postseason
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- Only 24 hours after going hitless in his team's postseason loss, LG Twins' veteran Kim Min-sung was a completely different player on Friday, as the club rode his scorching bat to a season-saving victory.
Kim went 4-for-4 with three RBIs in the Twins' 9-3 win over the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. The best-of-three series in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason is now even at one game apiece. Game 3 is 2 p.m. Sunday, back at Jamsil.
Before the start of the series on Thursday, LG manager Ryu Ji-hyun had singled out Kim as a key player.
Ryu had inserted the 32-year-old in the fifth spot in the lineup, saying he wanted Kim to set the tone for the rest of the lineup.
Kim instead went 0-for-4. Notably, he lined out softly to first with the bases loaded and the Twins down 2-1 in the seventh inning. They lost the game 5-1.
For Friday's Game 2, Ryu moved Kim down to the No. 7 spot, lifting some pressure off his shoulders.
And Kim did live up to the manager's expectations, knocking in the Twins' first two runs en route to a perfect day at the plate.
Hey, better late than never.
All three of Kim's RBI hits came with two outs. In the second inning, Kim connected on a 0-1 cutter from starter Gwak Been for a single to left field.
Two innings later, Kim again fell behind 0-1 in the count against Gwak after whiffing on a curveball. Gwak then threw him a fastball, and Kim drilled it to left field to put the Twins up 2-0.
After a two-out double with nobody on in the sixth, Kim collected his third RBI with a single in the seventh. It was one of five runs by the Twins in that pivotal inning.
Kim's only blemish of the night came from the field, as he made a throwing error to begin the bottom sixth that led to the Bears' first run.
But in such a convincing victory, that miscue ended up being merely a blip.
Kim is playing in his ninth postseason, and he hadn't exactly set the world on fire over his 44 previous games with a .260/.331/.367 line, two home runs and 14 RBIs.
And Kim added to his modest RBI total with a statement game on Friday.
On the mound, LG starter Casey Kelly tossed 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball for his second career postseason win, though the outing wasn't without some dicey moments.
The first one came against the very first hitter he faced in the game. Kelly got struck in the abdomen by Jung Soo-bin's line drive. The ball dropped in front of Kelly, who alertly picked it up and threw out the batter.
Kelly dusted himself off and stayed in the game, but then allowed a double and a walk to the next two batters.
The inning could easily have gone out of control, but Kelly got cleanup Kim Jae-hwan to bounce one to first base and covered the bag to complete a rare 3-6-1 double play.
Kelly pitched around a two-out single in the second. Then in the third, Jose Miguel Fernandez hit his second double of the game off Kelly, but the pitcher got his revenge by picking off Fernandez at second base to end the inning.
After stranding a runner in the fourth, Kelly pitched himself into trouble in the fifth, when he put two runners aboard for Fernandez with the Twins holding on to a 3-0 lead.
With the count in his favor at 1-2, Kelly fired a letter-high fastball that Fernandez swung on and missed. It was Kelly's biggest strikeout of the game.
Kim Min-sung's error set up Kim Jae-hwan's single that cost Kelly a scoreless start. Kelly retired the next two batters but was pulled after issuing a walk.
With two men on, reliever Kim Dae-yu struck out pinch hitter Kim In-tae to prevent further damage and let Kelly off the hook.
The Twins have now won all four of Kelly's postseason starts. For himself, Kelly is 2-0 with a 1.78 ERA in the postseason.
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