유지호
| 2021-11-05 23:46:17
(LEAD) baseball postseason-players
(LEAD) Veteran goes from goat to hero, starter stays perfect to keep Twins alive in KBO postseason
(ATTN: ADDS comments throughout)
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- Only 24 hours after going hitless in his team's postseason loss, LG Twins' veteran Kim Min-sung was a completely different player on Friday, as the club rode his scorching bat to a season-saving victory.
Kim went 4-for-4 with three RBIs in the Twins' 9-3 win over the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. The best-of-three series in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason is now even at one game apiece. Game 3 is 2 p.m. Sunday, back at Jamsil.
Before the start of the series on Thursday, LG manager Ryu Ji-hyun had singled out Kim as a key player.
Ryu had inserted the 32-year-old in the fifth spot in the lineup, saying he wanted Kim to set the tone for the rest of the lineup.
Kim instead went 0-for-4. Notably, he lined out softly to first with the bases loaded and the Twins down 2-1 in the seventh inning. They lost the game 5-1.
For Friday's Game 2, Ryu moved Kim down to the No. 7 spot, lifting some pressure off his shoulders.
And Kim did live up to the manager's expectations, knocking in the Twins' first two runs en route to a perfect day at the plate.
Hey, better late than never.
All three of Kim's RBI hits came with two outs. In the second inning, Kim connected on a 0-1 cutter from starter Gwak Been for a single to left field.
Two innings later, Kim again fell behind 0-1 in the count against Gwak after whiffing on a curveball. Gwak then threw him a fastball, and Kim drilled it to left field to put the Twins up 2-0.
After a two-out double with nobody on in the sixth, Kim collected his third RBI with a single in the seventh. It was one of five runs by the Twins in that pivotal inning.
Kim's only blemish of the night came from the field, as he made a throwing error to begin the bottom sixth that led to the Bears' first run.
But in such a convincing victory, that miscue ended up being merely a blip.
Kim is playing in his ninth postseason, and he hadn't exactly set the world on fire over his 44 previous games with a .260/.331/.367 line, two home runs and 14 RBIs.
And Kim added to his modest RBI total with a statement game on Friday.
Kim said he was too passive in the first game and wanted to change that approach on Friday.
His first two hits both came on the second pitches of the at-bat, while he swung on the first pitch for the sixth-inning double.
"I wasn't being myself last night. I am usually a lot more aggressive," Kim said. "Honestly, I was a bit nervous at the start of the new series, and I was too defensive at the plate."
Despite his big day, Kim barely showed any emotions on the bases, while his teammates celebrated their hits with different variations of fist pumps.
"Over the years, I've learned that I don't really play well if I get too carried away," Kim said. "I thought a lot about how to approach this game last night. I decided I had to stay composed regardless of situations."
On the mound, LG starter Casey Kelly tossed 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball for his second career postseason win, though the outing wasn't without some dicey moments.
The first one came against the very first hitter he faced in the game. Kelly got struck in the abdomen by Jung Soo-bin's line drive. The ball dropped in front of Kelly, who alertly picked it up and threw out the batter.
Kelly dusted himself off and stayed in the game, but then allowed a double and a walk to the next two batters.
The inning could easily have gone out of control, but Kelly got cleanup Kim Jae-hwan to bounce one to first base and covered the bag to complete a rare 3-6-1 double play.
Kelly pitched around a two-out single in the second. Then in the third, Jose Miguel Fernandez hit his second double of the game off Kelly, but the pitcher got his revenge by picking off Fernandez at second base to end the inning.
After stranding a runner in the fourth, Kelly pitched himself into trouble in the fifth, when he put two runners aboard for Fernandez with the Twins holding on to a 3-0 lead.
With the count in his favor at 1-2, Kelly fired a letter-high fastball that Fernandez swung on and missed. It was Kelly's biggest strikeout of the game.
Kim Min-sung's error set up Kim Jae-hwan's single that cost Kelly a scoreless start. Kelly retired the next two batters but was pulled after issuing a walk.
With two men on, reliever Kim Dae-yu struck out pinch hitter Kim In-tae to prevent further damage and let Kelly off the hook.
The Twins have now won all four of Kelly's postseason starts. For himself, Kelly is 2-0 with a 1.78 ERA in the postseason.
Kelly said the line drive in the first inning hit him in a softer part of his body and quipped, "I've been getting a little bit fatter this time of the year."
On his strikeout of Fernandez, Kelly said he and catcher Yoo Kang-nam were on the same page.
"I didn't want to give up any runs at that point in time, and Kang-nam called a high fastball," Kelly said. "I thought it was a great call. We hadn't thrown anything high. Thankfully, (Fernandez) swung through it."
The win was extra special for Kelly, as his father, former major league catcher Pat Kelly, was in the stands.
The senior Kelly hasn't been able to watch his son play in Korea for much of the season because he's the manager of the Triple-A club Louisville Bats. Now that the U.S. season is over, Pat got here in time to watch Casey win a big game.
"It was a special moment. I definitely wanted to pitch well for him," Casey Kelly said.
(END)
[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]