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Twins rally past Eagles to reach brink of Korean Series title

Published: 31 Oct. 2025, 09:08

Kim Hyun-soo of the LG Twins celebrates after hitting a two-run single against the Hanwha Eagles during Game 4 of the Korean Series at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon on Oct. 30. [YONHAP]

The LG Twins staged a thrilling ninth-inning rally to defeat the Hanwha Eagles 7-4 on Thursday to move within a win of capturing the Korean Series title.

A day after giving up six runs in the eighth inning to lose Game 3 by 7-3, the Twins gave the Eagles a taste of their own medicine by scoring six times in Game 4 of this best-of-seven KBO championship series at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon.

With a 3-1 series lead, the Twins can clinch their second title in three seasons with a win in Game 5, back in Daejeon at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

The Twins entered the ninth inning trailing 4-1, but Oh Ji-hwan drew a leadoff walk against reliever Kim Seo-hyeon to give his team some life. Then Park Dong-won launched a two-run home run to make it a one-run game.

With the Twins still trailing 4-3 and down to their final strike, Kim Hyun-soo came through with a two-run single off reliever Park Sang-won for a 5-4 lead.

Moon Bo-gyeong followed up with an RBI double that knocked Park out of the game, and then Austin Dean ended his 0-for-15 funk with a bloop single that put the Twins up 7-4.

The Eagles wasted a gem by starter Ryan Weiss, who was charged with a run over 7 2/3 dominant innings and struck out seven.

The Eagles opened the scoring for the third straight game. A double, a hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice bunt had runners at second and third for Ha Ju-suk, who cashed in the first run with a groundout to shortstop Oh Ji-hwan.

LG Twins players celebrate their 7-4 win over the Hanwha Eagles in Game 4 of the Korean Series at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon on Oct. 30. [NEWS1]

Ha's roller cut through the middle, but Oh did well to keep the ball in the infield by ranging to his right.

After managing just one single off Weiss through four innings, the Twins threatened in the top fifth. Oh Ji-hwan led off the inning with a double and took third on a flyout. Weiss then hit Gu Bon-hyeok with a pitch to put runners at the corners but cleaned up his own mess by getting Park Hae-min to bounce into an inning-ending double play.

Weiss induced another inning-ending twin killing in the seventh, this time against pinch hitter Moon Sung-ju with one out, and runners at first and second.

The Eagles then pulled further ahead in the bottom seventh, courtesy of Moon Hyun-bin's two-out, two-run single off reliever Jang Hyun-sik.

The Twins pushed back with two outs in the top eighth. After Shin Min-jae's double knocked Weiss out of the game, Kim Hyun-soo then got an RBI single off new pitcher Kim Beom-su to put the Twins on the board.

Another hit put the tying run aboard for the Twins, and the Eagles summoned closer Kim Seo-hyeon, who retired Dean on a harmless pop fly to end that rally.

The Eagles added an insurance run in the bottom eighth with Choi Jae-hoon's two-out single.

Park Dong-won of the LG Twins watches his two-run home run against the Hanwha Eagles during Game 4 of the Korean Series at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon on Oct. 30. [YONHAP]

But little did the teams know that it only set the stage for the ninth-inning drama.

Kim Seo-hyeon, who had been struggling to close out games for weeks, dating to the end of the regular season in early October, was tasked with protecting the 4-1 lead. But he promptly walked Oh Ji-hwan to begin the ninth, and Park Dong-won launched a towering two-run homer to turn it into a one-run affair.

Kim got a groundout but then walked No. 9 hitter Park Hae-min, who represented the tying run.

New pitcher Park Sang-won took over, but Hong Chang-ki greeted him with a single, and now the Twins had the go-ahead run aboard.

Shin Min-jae's grounder moved the runners to second and third, with Kim Hyun-soo coming to the plate with a chance to give the Twins a lead.

At 2-2 count, Kim did exactly that with a single to right field that put the Twins ahead for the first time in this game. It was also Kim's 102nd career postseason hit, a new KBO record.

LG Twins players celebrate in the dugout after Moon Bo-gyeong hit an RBI double and took third base against the Hanwha Eagles during Game 4 of the Korean Series at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon on Oct. 30. [NEWS1]

The Twins weren't done. Moon Bo-gyeong's double cashed in Kim's pinch runner, Lee Young-bin, for a 6-4 lead, and Dean's first hit of the Korean Series made it a 7-4 game.

Twins closer You Young-chan then got the final three outs in the bottom ninth to push his team a step closer to the title.

For Game 5, there will be a starting pitching rematch from Sunday's series opener, an 8-2 Twins win.

Anders Tolhurst will try to pitch the Twins to the title. The American righty was named the Player of the Game in the opener after holding the Eagles to two runs on seven hits over six innings. He struck out seven but did not walk anybody.

The Eagles will have right-hander Moon Dong-ju, who gave up four runs — one unearned — on four hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings in Game 1. One of those four hits was a home run by light-hitting center fielder Park Hae-min.

Yonhap