LG Twins hold off NC Dinos 4-2 to take KBO playoff stranglehold

CHANGWON, South Korea, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- The LG Twins held off the NC Dinos 4-2 for their second straight victory in the opening playoff series in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) on Wednesday, taking the stranglehold on their best-of-five affair.

Powered by two home runs, the Twins are now one victory away from reaching the second round, where the Nexen Heroes, who finished with the second-best record in the regular season, await. The third game will be played on Friday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, the Twins' home.

The fourth game, if necessary, will also take place on Saturday, also at Jamsil.

The second game had been rained out the past two days before the players finally got back to action Wednesday evening here in Changwon, about 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The Twins, which enjoyed a 13-4 victory in the opener after scoring six runs in the first inning, wasted little time getting on board in this game, as Jeong Seong-hoon belted a leadoff homer off Eric Hacker.

Hacker quickly settled down and recorded five strikeouts through three innings. Then in the fourth, Brad Snyder connected for a two-run shot off the right-hander to put the Twins up 3-0.

After wasting earlier rallies, the Dinos finally solved the Twins' pitching in the seventh. Cleanup Eric Thames took LG reliever Shin Jae-woong over the right field for a solo shot for the Dinos' first run. NC then tagged the next pitcher, Shin Jung-rak, for three hits, the last being a pinch-hit, RBI single by Lee Tae-won.

Veteran right-hander Lee Dong-hyun, LG's fourth pitcher, saved the day for the Twins, striking out Park Min-woo with two outs and runners at the corners.

The Twins' bullpen nearly wasted a solid start by Woo Kyu-min, who held the Dinos to four hits over five scoreless innings for the victory. The sidearm right-hander struck out three while walking none and retired nine straight batters in one stretch.

Hacker lasted only 3 1/3 innings for the loss, giving up three earned runs on five hits, including two home runs, and two walks.

In the fourth, the Twins foiled an NC rally with a great defensive play.

Kim Jong-ho and Na Sung-bum reached with back-to-back singles after one out. Then Thames lined a screamer toward right center for what appeared to be a sure double, but second baseman Kim Yong-eui timed his leap perfectly to snatch the ball, before doubling off Na at first base.

The Dinos tried to rally again in the bottom sixth, starting out with a walk and a single and chasing Woo from the game.

Reliever Shin Jae-woong, however, struck out Park Min-woo, the first batter he faced. Lee Sang-ho, pinch runner on second, then was thrown out trying to steal third.

Shin walked Kwon Hee-dong but got dangerous Na Sung-bum to line out softly to shortstop to escape the inning unscathed.

With the Dinos trailing 3-2 in the bottom eighth, Na hit a one-out single to keep the fading hopes alive. Thames went down swinging, and following a walk drawn by Lee Ho-jun, Lee Jong-wook popped out to third for the final out of the inning.

The Twins added an insurance run in the top of the ninth on a bizarre play. With pinch runner Moon Sun-jae on first with one out, Lee Byung-kyu hit a towering fly to second baseman Park Min-woo.

Apparently unaware that there was only one out, Moon took off and kept rounding the bases. Park missed the fly, and by the time the ball hit the ground, Moon had reached third base and was trotting home for an easy run.

LG's closer Bong Jung-keun struck out the side in the ninth for the save.

Choi Kyung-cheol, a hero in Game 1 with a three-run home run, went 3-for-4 on Wednesday to pace the Twins' offense. For the Dinos, Na went 2-for-4 in the No. 3 spot.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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