(LEAD) Pitchers carry Twins to KBO postseason series win

It took LG Twins pitcher Im Chan-kyu 13 years to earn his first Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason victory as a starter. That came on Sunday. Im then earned his second such victory just five days later on Friday. LG Twins starter Im Chan-kyu celebrates after retiring Mel Rojas Jr. of the KT Wiz to end the top of the sixth inning during Game 5 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2024. (Yonhap) LG Twins starter Im Chan-kyu celebrates after retiring Mel Rojas Jr. of the KT Wiz to end the top of the sixth inning during Game 5 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2024. (Yonhap) Im pitched the Twins to the second round, tossing six innings of one-run ball for a 4-1 win over the KT Wiz in Game 5 of the best-of-five first round at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. He surrendered only three hits and struck out four. Im was voted the MVP of the series t hanks to his two wins, with 34 out of 67 votes cast by media. Im posted a 1.59 ERA, with two earned runs in 11 1/3 innings, and struck out eight batters. "This is a huge honor. I want to thank the fans for their support," Im said. "I only thought about helping the team win, and winning this is a bonus. I tried to stay as calm as possible and take it one pitch at a time. I think I had bad outings in past postseasons because I wasn't able to control my emotions. It wasn't the case this year." Im had a mostly low-stress outing Friday, as the Wiz barely tested the 31-year-old pitcher. Im survived a scare in the top of the second inning, with the help of his right fielder Hong Chang-ki. LG Twins starter Im Chan-kyu pitches against the KT Wiz during Game 5 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2024. (Yonhap) LG Twins starter Im Chan-kyu pitches against the KT Wiz during Game 5 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postse ason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2024. (Yonhap) Cleanup Kang Baek-ho led off that inning with a line drive off the right field wall. The ball was hit so hard that by the time Kang made the turn at first to stretch it into a double, Hong had already fielded it. Hong then fired a one-hopper to shortstop Oh Ji-hwan covering second base, and Kang was tagged out easily. It was a critical out for the Twins, with Hwang Jae-gyun, who was batting .400 for the series before Friday, due up next. After breathing a sigh of relief, Im retired the next two batters on groundouts. Im pitched around a one-out single in the third and retired the side in order in the fourth. After issuing a two-out walk in the fifth, Im received more help from his defense, with third baseman Moon Bo-gyeong fielding a sharp grounder down the line and throwing out Oh Yoon-suk to end the inning. Im pumped his fist walking off the mound after the play, but he had even more to celebrate in the sixth, retiring the side in ord er with a pair of groundouts and a strikeout. LG Twins starter Im Chan-kyu celebrates after retiring Oh Yoon-suk of the KT Wiz to end the top of the fifth inning during Game 5 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2024. (Yonhap) LG Twins starter Im Chan-kyu celebrates after retiring Oh Yoon-suk of the KT Wiz to end the top of the fifth inning during Game 5 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2024. (Yonhap) Im fired up fans as they chanted his name. It was an unusually exuberant celebration for Im, who admitted he was a bit gassed after swinging his arms up and down to get the crowd going. "If I had known I would go back out there for the seventh inning, I wouldn't have done that," Im said with a smile. "I figured it was my last inning, and I wanted to share the moment with the fans. I know they've been waiting for a long time for me to come through in an e limination game like this. I want to thank them for their patience." Im gave up a leadoff single in the seventh and walked the next batter, as the Wiz had a man in scoring position for the first time in this game. That was the end of Im's day. And from the dugout, Im cheered on reliever Son Ju-young as the left-hander, after walking his first batter to load the bases, limited the damage to one run. LG Twins reliever Son Ju-young pitches against the KT Wiz during Game 5 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2024. (Yonhap) LG Twins reliever Son Ju-young pitches against the KT Wiz during Game 5 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2024. (Yonhap) Son ended up throwing two innings and struck out four to earn the Player of the Game honor. The left-hander had worked 5 1/3 perfect innings in relief in Game 3 and finished tied for third in series MVP voting with se ven. Another pitcher, Elieser Hernandez, was the runner-up to Im with 19 votes. He threw a scoreless ninth Friday to collect his second save of the series. The Venezuelan right-hander appeared in all five games of the series and did not give up a run in 7 1/3 innings, while striking out 10. LG Twins reliever Son Ju-young celebrates after striking out Oh Yoon-suk of the KT Wiz to end the top of the seventh inning during Game 5 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2024. (Yonhap) LG Twins reliever Son Ju-young celebrates after striking out Oh Yoon-suk of the KT Wiz to end the top of the seventh inning during Game 5 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2024. (Yonhap) Hernandez became the first foreign pitcher to appear in all five games of a best-of-five first round. "I feel so happy. I helped the team win, and that's the most important thing," Hernandez said . "Sometimes, you have to sacrifice to support your team, and that's what I did." Asked if he could pitch in all five games in the next series, Hernandez smiled and said, "Sure." Hernandez said Im was the deserving MVP because Im is "amazing. He does everything for us." Im said he would have voted for Hernandez. "It's not easy to stay physically ready and pitch every game in a series like this," Im said. "And he pitched in all sorts of situations. He had to pick up the slack because we didn't have enough options in our bullpen. He is the MVP in my heart, and I hope he will stay healthy." Source: Yonhap News Agency