Twins take first after beating Bears in Jamsil Derby

Baseball

Published: 19 Jun. 2023, 17:14 Updated: 19 Jun. 2023, 17:42

Twins take first after beating Bears in Jamsil Derby

Austin Dean of the LG Twins slides home after hitting an inside-the-park home run against the Doosan Bears at the bottom of the second inning at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Sunday. [YONHAP]

The LG Twins gave their fans exactly what they wanted over the weekend, climbing up to first place on the KBO standings by beating local rivals the Doosan Bears in the Jamsil Derby.

It wasn’t a perfect weekend for the Twins, with the fifth-place Bears able to get one win of their own in the three-game series, but any opportunity to beat their rivals in their shared stadium in southern Seoul will count as far as the fans are concerned. Jumping over the SSG Landers to top the table is just the icing on the cake.

The Twins won the opening game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium 7-4, only for the Bears to flip the tables for an identical win on Saturday, 7-4. The Twins bounced back in the rubber match on a clear and sunny early summer afternoon in Seoul, winning 15-3 to take the series and the No. 1 spot.

The Landers, meanwhile, won their series against the fourth-place Lotte Giants but dropped Sunday’s game — 12-1, 8-5, 7-2 — handing the lead back to the Twins after a few days of trading places.

Elsewhere in the KBO, the eighth-place KT Wiz edged out the ninth-place Samsung Lions in a very tight series, winning the opening two games 7-6, 6-5, before dropping the final game 7-5 on Sunday.

The fourth-place NC Dinos and sixth-place Kia Tigers were unable to find a conclusive winner, with the Tigers winning 13-11 on Friday, the Dinos winning 10-7 on Saturday and the two sides splitting a 7-7 tie on Sunday.

Things looked to be going the same way up in Daejeon, where the 10th-place Hanwha Eagles held the eighth-place Kiwoom Heroes to a 2-2 tie on Friday, but the Heroes fought back to win 9-6 on Saturday and 6-5 on Sunday to take the series.

The weekend action followed some more decisive midweek series, with the Twins again coming out on top with the only sweep of the week over the Lions at Jamsil: 2-1, 3-2, 9-3.

The Landers slip from the top started during their midweek action, dropping an unlikely series to the Wiz. SSG won the opener 8-1 on Tuesday, but then lost 14-4 on Wednesday and 7-3 on Thursday for the series.

The third-place Dinos had more luck against the Bears, losing the opener 11-4 at home in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, but bouncing back to win 5-4 on Wednesday and take the rubber match 10-3.

The Giants, meanwhile, dropped their series to the Eagles — 7-5, 4-8, 4-5 — with the Heroes edging out the Tigers to round off the midweek action: 1-0, 2-1, 4-8.
There were also some big moves in the foreign player market this week.

The Hanwha Eagles announced the signing of former major leaguer Nick Williams Sunday, brought in to replace Brian O’Grady who was released on May 31. The 29-year-old made his big league debut with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2017 and hit 12 home runs in his rookie season.

The Kiwoom Heroes on Friday announced that they have parted ways with long-time pitcher Eric Jokisch, who has been struggling with an injury, replacing him with minor leaguer Ian McKinney.

Jokisch, who played for the Heroes since 2019, was placed on waivers after he was diagnosed with a partial tear of his left adductor muscle. His replacement McKinney has been playing independent baseball since last year, and has 176 minor league appearances to his name.

The Doosan Bears also announced the return of Brandon Waddell on Tuesday. Waddell pitched for the Bears last season as a midseason replacement, going 5-3 with a 3.60 ERA. He has been playing in Taiwan so far this season, but returns to Jamsil to replace Dylan File.

The KBO returns Tuesday as the Twins head to Changwon to take on the Dinos, the Bears host the Landers in Incheon, the Giants play the Wiz in Suwon, the Heroes and Lions face off in Daegu and the Tigers head to Daejeon to take on the Eagles.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]