Bears blank Twins to open KBO postseason series

All News 21:49 November 04, 2020

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- Starter Chris Flexen tossed six dominant innings, and designated hitter Jose Miguel Fernandez smacked a two-run homer, as the Doosan Bears blanked the LG Twins 4-0 to open their South Korean baseball postseason series on Wednesday.

Jose Miguel Fernandez of the Doosan Bears celebrates his two-run home run against the LG Twins in the bottom of the first inning of Game 1 of the Korea Baseball Organization first-round playoff series at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 4, 2020. (Yonhap)

Doosan's No. 9 hitter Oh Jae-won chipped in two RBIs at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. Flexen struck out 11, and the Bears as a team struck out 15 LG batters.

Game 2 of this best-of-three first-round series is back at Jamsil at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Bears charged out to a lead only three pitches into the game. Leadoff Heo Kyoung-min got hit by the first pitch from LG starter Lee Min-ho. Fernandez then turned on a second-pitch slider and drove it over the right-field fence for a 2-0 lead.

Flexen was dealing early, recording nine strikeouts through four innings while giving up just two singles.

Oh, who got the start at second base ahead of injured Choi Joo-hwan, gave Flexen some extra run support in the bottom fourth, delivering an RBI double off the top of the right field wall for a 3-0 lead.

Chris Flexen of the Doosan Bears pitches against the LG Twins in Game 1 of the Korea Baseball Organization first-round playoff series at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 4, 2020. (Yonhap)

Oh picked up his second RBI of the night with a single in the sixth inning, and that was more than Flexen needed.

Flexen pitched around a one-out single in the fifth, and recorded his final two strikeouts in the sixth.

The bullpen finished the job, with Choi Won-jun, Lee Seung-jin and Lee Young-ha combining for three shutout innings.

The Twins tried to make things more interesting in the top ninth, putting runners at second and third with two outs against closer Lee Young-ha. But Lee Hyung-jong popped out to first base for the final out of the game.

The first four batters of the Twins' lineup were a combined 1-for-14 with 10 strikeouts, with cleanup Roberto Ramos going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.