Wiz squeeze past Twins to take Korean Series opener
Wiz squeeze past Twins to take Korean Series opener
Blog Article
The KT Wiz scored a go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning to stun the LG Twins 3-2 in Game 1 of the Korean Series on the road Tuesday.
Moon Sang-chul smoked a double off the left field wall in the ninth to break the 2-2 tie at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, and reliever Park Yeong-hyun threw a perfect ninth for his second career postseason save. The Wiz emerged victorious from a topsy-turvy game that featured a triple play, diving catches and a series of baserunning gaffes in front of a sellout crowd of 23,750.
It was Moon whose botched sacrifice bunt attempt started the triple play in the top of the second inning, and the designated hitter atoned for his miscue with the game-winning hit.
In the previous 39 Korean Series -- excluding the 1982 series, when Game 1 ended in a tie -- the team that won the opening game went on to capture the title 29 times, or 74.4 percent of the time.
The Wiz drew the first blood in the top of the first inning against starter Casey Kelly.
After leading off the game with a single, Kim Sang-su stole second base and moved to third when catcher Park Dong-won's throw skipped into the shallow center field.
Hwang Jae-gyun brought Kim home with a groundout to shortstop.
The Twins answered with two runs in the bottom first against starter Ko Young-pyo, as they also capitalized on an error.
A pair of one-out singles put runners at the corners for cleanup Austin Dean, who hit a grounder at second baseman Park Kyung-su for what should have started an inning-ending double play. Park, however, bobbled the ball and made a poor toss to shortstop Kim Sang-su, who dropped the ball as the lead runner Park Hae-min scored the tying run from third.
A follow-up single by Oh Ji-hwan loaded the bases, and Moon Bo-gyeong brought in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly.
The Wiz threatened to put more runs on the board in the top of the second, but the Twins defense turned only the second triple play in Korean Series history.
An error and a single had men at first and second for 커뮤니티 Moon Sang-chul, who tried to move the runners with a sacrifice bunt.
The ball dropped straight down off Moon's bat and stayed fair, right in front of the plate. Catcher Park Dong-won picked it up and threw out the lead runner at third. Shortstop Oh Ji-hwan, covering the third base bag, then threw to first to get Moon for the second out.
Second baseman Shin Min-jae, who was covering first on the play, quickly threw the ball back across the diamond to nab Bae Jung-dae at third for the trifecta.
There was more chaos on the base paths for the Wiz after they tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the fourth inning.
With runners at first and second, Jang Sung-woo knocked in the tying run with a single to right-center field. Lead runner Hwang Jae-gyun scored easily from second, and Anthony Alford made a wide turn at third base before putting on the brakes and hurrying back to the bag.
But Alford did not see the relay throw bounce past catcher Park Dong-won and toward the backstop, or he would have scored the go-ahead run. Alford quickly looked back toward home plate, and then saw Kelly, backing up the play, making a poor toss back to Park.
The ball bounced away from Park and into foul territory. But as Alford sprinted home, Park quickly picked up the ball and flipped it to first baseman Austin Dean covering home plate. Alford was tagged out easily.
The game settled into a steadier rhythm, with Kelly and Ko trading zeroes.
The Wiz chased Kelly from the game with Jang Sung-woo's single with one out in the seventh, and Jang moved to second when reliever Yi Jung-yong walked Bae Jung-dae.
Two batters later, pinch hitter Kim Min-hyuck hit a single through the hole on the right for what appeared to be a go-ahead single. But right fielder Hong Chang-ki threw out slow-footed Jang at the plate to keep the game tied.
A battle of the bullpens ensued, and the Twins blinked in the top of the ninth.
Twins closer Go Woo-suk issued a two-out walk to Bae Jung-dae to bring Moon Sang-chul to the plate. After a six-pitch battle, Moon hit a towering double off the left field wall. Running on contact at two outs, Bae scored easily from first to put the Wiz up for good.
Reliever Park Yeong-hyun then retired the side in order in the bottom ninth for the save, and made a winner out of setup man Son Dong-hyun, who tossed two shutout innings in relief of Ko.
Neither starter factored into a decision. Kelly gave up two runs -- one unearned -- on four hits and struck out six in 6 1/3 innings. Ko scattered seven hits across six innings while allowing two runs, one of them unearned, and striking out three.
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