Back in a familiar scene against a familiar foe, LG Twins slugger Austin Dean delivered a familiar result Tuesday: a massive postseason home run for his Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club. Dean launched a go-ahead, three-run homer off starter Wes Benjamin in the top fifth to power the Twins past the KT Wiz 6-5 in Game 3 of the first round in the KBO postseason at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of Seoul. Both the Twins and the Wiz had seen this movie before. On Nov. 10, 2023, in Game 3 of the Korean Series, Dean also smoked a three-run homer off Benjamin, as part of the Twins' 8-7 win. The Twins went on to take the series in five games. The Wiz were the only opponent that Dean had not homered against during the 2023 regular season, but the American slugger came through when it counted. In the 2024 regular season, Dean went deep against every team but the Wiz. And he once again ended that personal drought against Benjamin. The teams had traded jabs early, and the Wiz had built a 3-2 lead in the botto m third. It all changed in the fateful fifth inning. With two runners aboard, Dean turned on the first-pitch cutter from Benjamin and sent it 130 meters into the seats in left. It was a no-doubter of a home run, with Dean defiantly tossing his bat aside and raising his arm in celebration long before the ball even reached the stands. Dean said afterward it was difficult to compare the homer from Tuesday to the one from last year, because there was "a little bit more at stake" in the 2023 Korean Series. Plus, he had not been thinking about the past during this series. "I'm just focused on where we're at currently, and we're taking it game by game right now," he said. "If you try to think too much ahead, that's just going to start the downfall." Dean, a Texas native, did recall frigid conditions of the Korean Series, which was played entirely in November. This year, the postseason began in the first week of October, and Game 7 of the Korean Series, if it goes that deep, is scheduled to end on Oct. 29. De an said it was "super cold" last year but he wouldn't mind playing in cold weather again as long as the Twins contend for another title. "Hopefully, we get to that point again where we're in the Korean Series and we're all bundled up again," he said with a smile. "It was super cold, but that was some very fun baseball to be a part of." With the key homer, Dean backed an outstanding outing by Son Ju-young, a left-handed starter who worked in relief in his postseason debut. After starter Choi Won-tae got the hook with two outs in the third, Son gave up a go-ahead single to the first batter he faced, Kim Sang-su. But the inning ended on the play when Hwang Jae-gyu got caught in a rundown between second and third. The Wiz did not put a runner in scoring position again against Son. In 5 1/3 shutout innings, Son struck out seven batters, six of them whiffing on his heavy fastball. He got two Ks in the fourth, another in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Son Ju-young of the LG Twins pitches against the KT W iz during Game 3 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 8, 2024. (Yonhap) He fanned dangerous pinch hitter Moon Sang-chul for the second out in the seventh and then punctuated his outing by striking out pinch hitter Oh Yoon-suk to end the eighth inning. Son, who allowed only two singles, tossed 64 pitches, 38 for strikes. And 38 of those 64 were four-seam fastballs, with Son topping out at 149 kilometers per hour. Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb said he thought about keeping Son on for the ninth inning but noticed a drop in his fastball spin rate -- a sign that the pitcher was tiring. Son himself said the number didn't back up how he was feeling on the mound. "I felt sharper and sharper as the game progressed," the 25-year-old said. "I was coming off a long break. I didn't know much about spin rates. I just felt my fastballs had a lot more zip than usual." Even though this was Son's first postseason game, it is not his first tr ip to the big stage. He was on the Korean Series roster for the Twins last year. He did not get into any games, but he experienced the electric energy of the crowd and being part of what ended up being a championship team. "I wasn't that nervous today because I already had some experience from the Korean Series," Son said. "I was determined to help the team no matter what. Even though we trailed by one after I gave up the hit, I figured we could come back and win if I kept things tight through the seventh inning." Should the Twins win Wednesday to reach the next round, Son will be back to his usual role as a starter. But what if the Twins need him out of the bullpen in a pinch in a possible Game 5 against the Wiz? "I will be ready to go in that case," Son said. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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