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. 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 postseason 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 coverin g 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 order 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 celebrat es 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. 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. 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 seven. 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. Source: Yonhap News Agency