(LEAD) Nexen routs LG to reach first Korean Series

(ATTN: ADDS photo, details)
By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Oct. 31 (Yonhap) -- The Nexen Heroes destroyed the LG Twins 12-2 on Friday to advance to their first championship series in the top South Korean pro baseball league.

Third baseman Kim Min-sung set a new Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) playoff record with seven RBIs, and the vaunted Heroes' offense exploded for 15 hits to knock out the Twins in four games in their best-of-five playoff series on the road at Jamsil Stadium.

Kim went 3-for-3 with a home run and knocked in seven runs, while hard-hitting shortstop Kang Jung-ho also had three hits, including his second homer in as many days, to lead the onslaught.

Kang was voted the MVP of the series after going 8-for-15 with two homers and four RBIs.

Up next for the Heroes in the Korean Series will be the Samsung Lions, who will be gunning for their fourth consecutive championship.

The best-of-seven Korean Series starts on Tuesday in Daegu, the Lions' home, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The Lions had the bye to the Korean Series after posting the best record in the regular season. The Heroes, who joined the league in 2008, will chase their first-ever title.

The Heroes showed they meant business from the top of the first inning, opening the game with two straight singles off LG starter Ryu Jae-kuk. With one out and the bases loaded, Kang Jung-ho drove in the game's first run with an infield single.

Kang hit a hard chopper down the third base line, forcing Jeong Seong-hoon to make a tough grab moving to his right. Jeong's throw home was not in time as Vinny Rottino chugged in from third to put the Heroes up 1-0.

With the bases still full, Kim Min-sung made it a 2-0 game with a sacrifice fly to center.

The Twins got a run back on a lucky hit in the bottom of the third. With a man on second, Jeong Seong-hoon blooped a double to shallow right on an excuse-me check swing, cutting the deficit in half.

The home side drew even in the bottom of the fourth. After a single and a double to start the inning, designated hitter Lee Byung-kyu, making his first start of the series, hit a sacrifice fly to right for the tying run.

After a mediocre stretch early, Ryu appeared to settle down by striking out the first two batters in the fifth. Then Park Byun-ho sent a screamer to left that ricocheted off the glove of third baseman Jeong Seong-hoon and into the outfield grass for a single. Kang Jung-ho followed with a single to left center, setting the stage for Kim Min-sung's decisive blow.

Kim drilled a 1-1 fastball over the left-center field fence, the deepest part of the ballpark, for his second career postseason home run.

The Heroes put the game out of the Twins' reach with a four-run seventh. Kang belted his second home run in two days, this time a two-run jack off reliever Woo Kyu-min to make it 7-2 for the Heroes.

Later in the seventh, Lee Sung-yul lined a single to right for the Heroes' eighth run. Then, with runners at the corners, the Heroes went up 9-2 on a double steal.

The Heroes kept pouncing on the Twins while they were down. Reliever Jeong Chan-heon gave up a single and a double and hit a batter to pack the bases. Kim Min-sung promptly drilled the first pitch he saw off the center field wall for a bases-clearing double.

Kim and Kang were the big offensive stars, but Park Byung-ho, the slumping cleanup hitter who'd gone 2-for-11 in the series before Friday, also showed signs of life. He went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and also hit a double in the eighth for his first extra-base hit of this postseason.

Neither starter was particularly sharp on this night. Ryu took the loss after getting tagged for five runs on eight hits and two walks.

The Twins used six pitchers but couldn't contain the Heroes' offense.

Henry Sosa, pitching on three days' rest for the Heroes, scattered six hits over 6 1/3 innings, holding the Twins to two earned runs to pick up the win. The right-hander struck out six and walked none.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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