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LG Twins throw 4th combined no-hitter in KBO history

Published: 16 Apr. 2025, 12:17 Updated: 16 Apr. 2025, 12:44

The LG Twins celebrate after winning a KBO game against the Samsung Lions at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on April 15. [NEWS1]

The LG Twins threw the fourth combined no-hitter in Korean baseball history Tuesday, with four pitchers holding the Samsung Lions off the board at home.

Starter Elieser Hernandez twirled six no-hit innings, and relievers Kim Jin-sung, Park Myung-geun and Jang Hyun-sik each tossed a hitless inning for the Twins' 3-0 victory at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul.

The Twins had the first combined no-no in the KBO on Oct. 6, 2014, against the NC Dinos. On April 2, 2022, the SSG Landers threw the second one, also against the Dinos.

On Aug. 6, 2023, the Lotte Giants had three pitchers hold the Landers without a hit.

With Tuesday's win, the Twins improved their league-best record to 15-3-0 (wins-losses-ties). The Lions lost their third straight game and fell to 10-9-0.

Only three Lions reached base in this game, with Lee Jae-hyeon getting hit by a pitch in the sixth and drawing a walk in the ninth, and Kim Seong-yoon also walking in the ninth.

The Twins scored the first run in the bottom first on Moon Bo-gyeong's RBI single and added insurance runs in the eighth with Moon Sung-ju's two-run double.

Hernandez only needed 79 pitches to work six hitless innings but was pulled early due to a cramp in his right thigh. But the bullpen took care of the rest to preserve the combined no-hitter.

Hernandez had lost each of his past two outings before Tuesday, while allowing 12 runs on nine hits, including four home runs, in six innings.

The right-hander had tossed seven innings of one-hit ball in his season debut on March 25 against the Hanwha Eagles.

Two other games on Tuesday featured outstanding pitching performances.

In Incheon, just west of Seoul, Hanwha Eagles starter Cody Ponce held the Landers to a hit in seven innings and struck out his season-high 12 batters, as his team came away with a 2-0 win.

In the southern city of Gwangju, Kia Tigers starter James Naile tossed six scoreless innings but settled for a no-decision in their 1-0 win over the KT Wiz.

Naile, the 2024 KBO ERA champion, has allowed just one run in 31 innings across five starts so far this season, for a minuscule ERA of 0.29.

Yonhap