‘45-year Jamsil rivalry ends with a final autumn chapter’ Austin’s birthday home run + Park Hae-min’s spectacular defense! LG crushes Doosan 4-1 → Advances to semi-playoffs [WC1 On-site Review]

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It was a game that showcased the power of veterans. The seasoned pitching of foreign starter Carlos Karasuko (39) and the premium defense of Captain Park Hae-min (36) led the LG Twins to a higher stage. The hero was Austin Dean (33), who celebrated his birthday on this day.

LG defeated Doosan 4-1 in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Postseason (PS) Wild Card Deciding Game (WC) 1, held at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium at 6:30 p.m. on the 14th.

With this, LG, who finished fourth in the regular season, utilized their one-game advantage to advance to the semi-playoffs. This marked their advancement to the next stage in all four of their Wild Card appearances, following 2016, 2019, and 2020. On the other hand, Doosan, who entered the postseason as the fifth seed in the regular season, was eliminated after just one game. They fell into a four-game losing streak in the Wild Card round, starting from Game 1 against the NC Dinos in 2023. In particular, unlike LG, which had reached the Wild Card three times up to last year, Doosan failed to clear the first hurdle in all instances except for 2021.

This year’s matchup between the two teams was even more special because it was the final postseason held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which opened in 1982 and is concluding its final season this year. By eliminating Doosan, LG kept alive the possibility of playing one more autumn baseball game at Jamsil. Now, after a two-day rest, they will face the KIA Tigers, who finished third in the regular season, in a best-of-five playoff series at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field.

The turning point came in the top of the seventh inning, when LG led 2-1. Facing Karasuko, who had strung together 13 consecutive batters without a hit, Union Severino hit a center-field single and Yang Eui-ji hit a double down the right-field line, putting LG in a bases-loaded threat with runners on second and third and no outs.

LG replaced the pitcher with John Kennedy, and the gamble paid off. Kennedy struck out Kim Min-seok with three pitches and then walked Kang Seung-ho with a hit-by-pitch. Following this, pinch hitter Yang Seok-hwan’s bat cut through the air powerfully. The ball traveled to just in front of the outfield wall in right-center field at Jamsil. However, Park Hae-min, who had run in from a distant position, made a dramatic catch, allowing only the runner on third base to score. Doosan created another chance with runners on second and third and two outs via a double steal, but Kennedy got Park Ji-hoon out with an infield grounder, escaping the tying threat.

The premium pitching duel between the starting pitchers adorned the Jamsil field. Doosan’s Gwak Bin pitched brilliantly for six innings, allowing three hits (one home run), four walks and hit-by-pitches (three walks, one hit-by-pitch), striking out 10 batters, and giving up two runs, leading with fastballs reaching a top speed of 158 km/h. LG’s Karasuko succeeded in a quality start (six or more innings pitched with three or fewer earned runs) with six innings pitched, four hits allowed, one walk, three strikeouts, and one run allowed in the opposite style, securing his first postseason win of his career.

On this day, LG arranged their batting order as Hong Chang-ki (right fielder)-Park Hae-min (center fielder)-Austin Dean (designated hitter)-Moon Jung-bin (first baseman)-Moon Bo-kyung (third baseman)-Song Chan-ui (left fielder)-Koo Bon-hyuk (shortstop)-Park Dong-won (catcher)-Shin Min-jae (second baseman). The starting pitcher was Carlos Karasuko.

In response, Doosan arranged their starting batting order as Park Chan-ho (shortstop)-An Jae-seok (third baseman)-Union Severino (first baseman)-Yang Eui-ji (designated hitter)-Kim Min-seok (left fielder)-Kang Seung-ho (second baseman)-Jeong Soobin (center fielder)-Yoon Jun-ho (catcher)-Jo Su-haeng (right fielder). The starting pitcher was Gwak Bin.

From the start, the legs of Doosan’s Park Chan-ho and LG’s Park Hae-min shook up the infield. Leading off in the top of the first inning, Park Chan-ho reached base with a center-field single and advanced to second base on An Jae-seok’s infield grounder. The initial call was out, but it was corrected to safe after video review. After Severino grounded out to left field, Park Chan-ho stole third base aggressively during Yang Eui-ji’s at-bat. However, the run was nullified as Yang Eui-ji struck out swinging.

In the bottom of the first inning, LG’s leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki reached on a hit-by-pitch, and the runner on first base was replaced by Park Hae-min on his ground ball. Park Hae-min continued to attempt stolen bases, disrupting Gwak Bin’s focus, and Austin hit a high curveball hard, sending it deep over the left-field fence. LG took a 2-0 lead.

The two teams experienced both joy and sorrow in defense. In the top of the second inning with one out and a runner on first, Jeong Soobin’s well-hit ball went directly into third baseman Moon Bo-kyung’s glove. Moon Bo-kyung recognized that first-base runner Kim Min-seok had overrun the bag and threw to first base, ending the inning in an instant.

On the other hand, Doosan third baseman An Jae-seok committed a major error with no outs and runners on first and second. He dashed toward Shin Min-jae’s weak fly ball, intentionally letting it drop before attempting a double play. The attempt was good. An Jae-seok caught the dropped ball immediately and threw to third base, but the ball curved sideways. As a result, it hit the end of Park Chan-ho’s glove as he came in to cover, and all runners remained safe.

At this point, Gwak Bin’s pitching prowess stood out. Gwak Bin struck out Hong Chang-ki with three pitches and Park Hae-min with a swinging strikeout, then ended Austin, who had hit a home run in his previous at-bat, with six fastballs for a swinging strikeout. With three strikeouts picked off from the bases-loaded situation, Doosan regained momentum with exceptional pitching.

For a while, the two teams’ starters engaged in a tense pitching duel. Karasuko strung together 13 consecutive batters without a hit until one out in the sixth inning, and Gwak Bin pitched scoreless through six innings without allowing additional runs.

LG held on with just one run allowed from a bases-loaded threat with one out in the seventh inning. In the bottom of the seventh, LG created a bases-loaded chance with two outs following Shin Min-jae’s left-field single, Park Hae-min’s center-field single, a wild pitch, and Moon Jung-bin’s walk. However, the inning ended without scoring as shortstop Park Chan-ho caught Moon Bo-kyung’s ground ball and threw to first base.

Additional runs were scored in the bottom of the eighth inning. Leadoff hitter Song Chan-ui reached base with a center-field single against Lee Young-ha. Song Chan-ui advanced to second base on Koo Bon-hyuk’s sacrifice bunt, and reached home on Park Dong-won’s center-field single and Shin Min-jae’s bunt single. Following this, consecutive wild pitches led to additional runs, giving LG a 4-1 lead.

For Doosan, the chance with one out and runners on first and second in the top of the eighth inning was regrettable. They created a scoring position opportunity with Jo Su-haeng’s walk, Park Chan-ho’s sacrifice bunt, and An Jae-seok’s walk. However, Lee Woo-chan struck out Severino and Ryu Seung-min consecutively to preserve LG’s victory.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original