LG Twins reliever Lee Ji-gang pitches against the SSG Landers during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on June 12, 2025, in this photo provided by the Twins. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Veteran catcher Park Dong-won delivered a pinch-hit double to break a 3-3 tie in the fifth, and three relievers took care of the late innings, as the LG Twins defeated the SSG Landers 8-6 in Seoul on Thursday.
The victory in front of 18,321 fans at Jamsil Baseball Stadium kept the Twins in first place at 40-26-1 (wins-losses-ties) in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), a half-game ahead of the Hanwha Eagles (40-27-0), who beat the Doosan Bears 3-2 on Thursday. The Twins and the Eagles will meet for a three-game series starting Friday.
The Landers dropped to 33-31-2 but stayed in sixth place.
The Twins scored first off starter Jeon Young-jun in the bottom first, with cleanup Moon Bo-gyeong hitting a sacrifice fly to score Shin Min-jae, who had drawn a leadoff walk and advanced to third on Kim Hyun-soo’s single.
The Landers responded immediately in the top second.
After three straight singles off starter Yonny Chirinos loaded the bases, Cho Hyeong-woo slapped a single through the hole in left to cash in two runs for a 2-1 Landers lead.
The Landers extended their lead in the top fourth in unconventional fashion.
With two outs and runners at second and third, Chirinos struck out Kim Chan-hyung swinging on a forkball, but the ball trickled through the legs of catcher Lee Ju-heon and rolled to the backstop. That allowed Park Seong-han to score from third to put the Landers up 3-1.
The Twins got a run back in the bottom fourth, when Song Chan-eui came home from third on a double play ball hit by Lee Young-bin.
The Twins then went ahead for good by scoring four runs with two outs in the bottom fifth.
After two singles and a groundout put runners at second and third, Moon Sung-ju dropped a single into shallow left to bring home the tying run.
Then Park Dong-won, held out of the starting lineup with a wonky ankle, came off the bench to knock a double off the right-center fence to plate two more runs, giving the Twins a 5-3 lead.
Right fielder Han Yoo-seom nearly made a leaping catch, but his glove just missed the ball.
Park then scored to make it a 6-3 game when shortstop Park Seong-han bobbled a grounder off Lee Ju-heon’s bat.
The Landers weren’t going away easily, as Guillermo Heredia knocked Chirinos out of the game with a two-out RBI single that cut the deficit to 6-4 in the top sixth.
But Lee Young-bin’s RBI single in the bottom seventh restored a three-run lead for the Twins at 7-4, before Moon Bo-gyeong’s fielder’s choice groundout made it an 8-4 game in the eighth.
The Landers made things a little more interesting in the top ninth, scoring twice on a double by Park Seong-han and a groundout by Lee Ji-young, though Seok Jeung-woo grounded to end the rally.
The teams combined for 28 hits.
Chirinos improved to 7-2 despite allowing four runs on his season-high nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. His ERA went up from 2.59 to 2.84.
After Chirinos, Kim Jin-sung worked a scoreless inning, and then Lee Ji-gang struck out four of the five batters he faced. Park Myung-geun had a shaky ninth before closing out the win.
Also for the Twins, No. 9 hitter Park Hae-min went 4-for-4 with his league-leading 19th steal of the season. This was Park’s first four-hit effort since June 21, 2023
(Yonhap)
