(LEAD) Heroes reach Korean Series after eliminating Twins in KBO postseason

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By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- For the first time in three years, the Kiwoom Heroes will be playing in the South Korean baseball championship series.

Former big leaguer Yasiel Puig homered and knocked in two runs as the Heroes defeated the LG Twins 4-1 to close out their Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason series in four games and book a spot in the Korean Series.

Kiwoom starter Tyler Eppler pitched six gritty innings on three days' rest at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, helping the Heroes win three straight games after dropping the opener of this best-of-five series.

The Heroes will face the SSG Landers in the best-of-seven Korean Series, which starts Tuesday. The Landers received a bye to the championship round after posting the best regular season record. They will have the home field advantage at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, just west of Seoul, and will play five games there if the Korean Series goes seven games.

The Heroes are going for their first championships, after losing in the 2014 and 2019 Korean Series.

The Twins, as the No. 2 seed, had earned a bye to this stage, while the third-seed Heroes had to beat the KT Wiz in five games in the previous round to get to this point. The Twins took the opening game 6-3 behind four errors by the Heroes but then lost the next three to bow out. Their bullpen, the league's best in the regular season, was overmatched at times against the relentless Heroes offense, and the lineup that ranked among the best in major hitting categories never got it going. Against the Heroes, the Twins hit just one home run and slugged at a .319 clip. The Twins haven't won a Korean Series title since 1994.

Kiwoom outfielder Lee Jung-hoo was voted the series MVP after batting 8-for-16 with a home run and two RBIs. Lee did not strike out in 17 trips to the plate, while putting up an absurd .938 slugging percentage. Lee earned 43 out of 79 votes from the media for the MVP award, with Puig finishing second after getting 24 votes.

Lee was also the MVP in the second round in 2019, when he batted 8-for-15 with three RBIs in a three-game sweep of the SK Wyverns to send the Heroes to the Korean Series.

For the second straight game, the Twins scored the first run. They strung together three straight singles with one out in the top of the first inning against starter Tyler Eppler, the last of those being Chae Eun-seong's RBI single.

But the Heroes had the quick answer in the bottom first. They, too, scored with three consecutive one-out singles, as Kim Hye-seong knocked in the tying run with a bloop single to shallow left field against starter Casey Kelly.

After Kim stole second, Kelly intentionally walked Yasiel Puig to load the bases and set up a double play. Kelly didn't get the twin killing but retired the next two batters to prevent further damage.

But the Heroes went ahead in the bottom third, thanks to Puig's solo home run to straightaway center field. Puig had also homered off Kelly in Monday's game.

The Twins stranded runners in scoring position in the fourth and fifth innings, letting Eppler off the hook after two-out hits on both occasions.

After the teams traded zeroes for a few innings, the Heroes gave themselves some breathing room in the bottom seventh.

New pitcher Jung Woo-young gave up a leadoff walk and then committed an error on a soft comebacker to put two runners on. A fielder's choice groundout put runners at the corners for Puig.

Puig prevailed in an eight-pitch battle with a broken-bat single up the middle to give the Heroes a 3-1 lead.

Closer Go Woo-suk was brought in from the bullpen, and Kim Tae-jin greeted him by poking a single past the drawn-in infield for a 4-1 advantage.

The Twins threatened in the top eighth at one out with men at the corners, but cleanup Chae Eun-seong, facing new reliever Kim Dong-hyeok, bounced into a back-breaking, 6-4-3 double play.

Kiwoom closer Kim Jae-woong, less than 24 hours after recording a six-out save, pitched around a one-out double in the ninth for another save.

Heroes manager Hong Won-ki was a fielding coach for the same team in their most recent Korean Series appearance in 2019. He said he is sensing "much different vibes" around the club now compared with three years ago.

"I think we've come this far purely thanks to the players' incredible energy," Hong said. "We're not going to be satisfied with just getting to the Korean Series. I think we should be able to mount a strong challenge against a very good team."

The Heroes have now played nine postseason games in a 13-day span. And by finishing off the Twins on Friday, the Heroes have earned themselves a three-day break, which will set up their starting rotation nicely.

Their top two starters, An Woo-jin and Eric Jokisch, will be available on normal rest at the start of the Korean Series. Jokisch would have had to pitch in Game 5 against the Twins on Sunday if the Heroes hadn't closed them out Friday.

"I think I am the only one who's tired on the team," Hong said. "I've been worried about my players, but they are all locked in now and playing with so much energy on the field. I want to make sure they will continue to do that in the Korean Series."

The losing manager Ryu Ji-hyun said frittering away a 2-0 lead in a 6-4 loss in Game 4 on Thursday night was the turning point of the series.

"I think our players put too much pressure on themselves to win this series as the higher seed," Ryu said. "We had an unbelievable regular season, and it's on me as the manager that we finished our postseason this way."

Both Eppler and Kelly pitched admirably on three days' rest, though Eppler got the last laugh after holding the Twins to a run on seven hits in six innings.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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