Twins ace stays undefeated in KBO postseason with solid outing

All News 21:54 October 24, 2022

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) -- In Casey Kelly's four postseason starts prior to Monday in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), the LG Twins had never lost.

And facing the Kiwoom Heroes to begin the best-of-five second round Monday, Kelly, the fourth-year American right-hander, made sure the undefeated record would stay intact.

Kelly tossed six solid innings, holding the Heroes to two runs on six hits in the Twins' 6-3 victory at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. Kelly did not strike out a batter, but he didn't have to, because he kept inducing easy groundouts and flyouts.

LG Twins starter Casey Kelly celebrates after retiring the side in the top of the third inning against the Kiwoom Heroes during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 24, 2022. (Yonhap)

Kelly now boasts a 3-0 record in five postseason starts, with an impressive 2.01 ERA.

Kelly had a nervy start to the game. It was his first outing since Sept. 30, with the Twins having earned a bye to this stage after posting the second-best record in the regular season.

Kelly pitched around a one-out walk, with his catcher, Yoo Kang-nam, helping out his batterymate by throwing out Kim Tae-jin on a steal attempt.

The Heroes made Kelly work for 23 pitches in the second inning, which included consecutive one-out singles. But Kelly escaped the inning unscathed by retiring the next two batters on flyouts.

The first of the two came off the bat of Park Jun-tae, a Kelly nemesis who battled the right-hander for 12 pitches in a regular season game this year and who drew into the starting lineup Monday precisely because of some good recent history. In this at-bat, Park flied out on six pitches.

LG Twins starter Casey Kelly pitches against the Kiwoom Heroes during the top of the second inning of Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 24, 2022. (Yonhap)

Further trouble brewed for Kelly in the third inning, with a single and a double putting runners at second and third for Kim Hye-seong.

Kim hit a soft line drive to third baseman Moon Bo-gyeong, who nearly dropped the ball on a jumping grab attempt before securing it to end the threat.

Kelly settled down to retire the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings. But with two outs in the sixth, Puig smoked a two-run homer off Kelly for the right-hander's only blemish of the game.

The line drive homer ate into the Twins' lead at 4-2, but the Twins pulled ahead with a pair of runs in the bottom sixth to regain a four-run lead.

Kelly's night was done after six frames and 95 pitches, and he could relax watching the Twins' bullpen, rated as the KBO's best by several measures in the regular season, hold the Heroes to a run on one hit over the final three innings.