Twins steal first as Bears take swipe at Tigers

Baseball

Published: 10 Jun. 2024, 08:56 Updated: 10 Jun. 2024, 15:32

Twins steal first as Bears take swipe at Tigers

Kia Tigers starter Yang Hyun-jong strikes out Kim Min-sung of the Lotte Giants at the top of the sixth inning at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on Thursday, becoming the second KBO player ever to record 2,000 strikeouts. [YONHAP]

The LG Twins took a narrow lead in the KBO over the weekend, pushing the Kia Tigers down to second place with a little help from Jamsil rivals the Doosan Bears.

The reigning champion twins won both their series over the week, beating the last-place Kiwoom Heroes in some home midweek action with wins on Wednesday and Thursday — 4-2, 8-4 — following an 11-3 loss on Tuesday.

The Seoul club rode that momentum into the weekend with another easy series, beating the ninth-place KT Wiz 8-7 on Friday and 8-2 on Saturday before allowing a consolation 11-2 loss on Sunday.

The Twins were helped up to first place by the third-place Bears, who handed the Tigers their second series loss of the week, 5-6, 8-9, 8-2 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul.

The Tigers earlier lost their midweek series to the eighth-place Lotte Giants — 6-0, 9-3, 4-5 — although that series did see long-time ace Yang Hyeon-jong become the second pitcher in KBO history to record 2,000 strikeouts.

Yang hit the milestone on Thursday, striking out Lotte’s Kim Min-sung for number 2,000 and joining Song Jin-woo, who retired in 2009, in the exclusive club.

For the third-place Bears, the win over the Tigers capped off a solid week that started with a road sweep against the sixth-place NC Dinos — 4-1, 4-3, 8-4.

The fourth-place Samsung Lions saw very different results, losing both of their series: 3-1, 3-7, 0-4 against the fifth-place SSG Landers and 5-7, 3-10, 7-1 against the Heroes.

The Landers lost their weekend series to the Lotte Giants — 7-11, 5-1, 3-5 — although there was some good news as the middle game, the first of a Sunday double-header, saw ace and former Major Leaguer Kim Kwang-hyun snap a 60-day cold streak for the win.

SSG Landers starter Kim Kwang-hyun pitches in a game against the Lotte Giants at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on Sunday. [SSG LANDERS]

The sixth-place Dinos were able to rally from the midweek sweep to beat the Hanwha Eagles over the weekend: 6-2, 4-2, 3-3.

Before the weekend loss, the seventh-place Eagles pulled off the only other sweep of the week over the Wiz: 8-2, 12-2, 6-0. That sweep marked the highly-anticipated arrival of veteran manager Kim Kyung-moon.

Kim, 65, rejoins the KBO six years after last taking the helm of a club. He is now the oldest manager in the league, and, with 896 wins in 1,700 games when he took the helm last week, the sixth winningest manager in KBO history. The former manager of the Doosan Bears and NC Dinos, Kim also led Korea to the Olympic title in 2008 and to a fourth-place finish in 2021.

New Hanwha Eagles manager Kim Kyung-moon [YONHAP]

"I may have been in this game a long time, but baseball is a humbling game," Kim said ahead of his first game on Tuesday, according to Yonhap News Agency. “You have to stay grounded.

"I obviously don't know everything. Once I am at a ballpark, I have to stay humble, and do the best I can with my players and coaches. Once you think you have it all figured out, you'll never get the results you want in baseball."

Kim is the second huge signing for the Eagles this year, after the return of starter Ryu Hyun-jin from the big leagues in February.

Kim and the Eagles face a challenge this week as the Daejeon club takes on the Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium. The Twins travel to Daegu to face the Lions, the Tigers visit the Landers in Incheon, the Wiz and Dinos face off in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, and the Heroes play the Giants in Busan.

Moving into the weekend, the Twins host the Giants at Jamsil, the Tigers travel to Suwon, Gyeonggi to play the Wiz, the Bears and Heroes face off in western Seoul, the Eagles host the Landers and the Lions play the Dinos in Changwon.

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