Daejeon: With over 100 games under his belt, LG Twins designated hitter Kim Hyun-soo has seen it all and done it all in Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseasons. But even the 37-year-old veteran would be hard-pressed to come up with a more improbable rally than the one he led Thursday night against the Hanwha Eagles in the Korean Series.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Kim's two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth inning keyed a six-run rally for the Twins, as they defeated the Eagles 7-4 in Game 4 of the KBO championship round at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon. This game came some 24 hours after the Twins blew a 3-1 lead and allowed six runs in the bottom eighth for a 7-3 loss.
With the Twins now on the brink of the championship, Kim said these games have taken a lot out of him. "I don't want to play these tight games anymore," Kim said with a wry grin. "I'd prefer something more comfortable, but I know it's not really possible this time of year, during the Korean Series. At the end of the day, I just want to win."
Kim's decisive knock was his 102nd hit of his postseason career, a new KBO record. He said he was not aware of his achievement but had flashbacks to some of his postseason failures from the past, when he couldn't deliver hits in key scoring situations. This time, he came through for the Twins when they needed him the most, winning a tight battle against reliever Park Sang-won.
"I wasn't sitting on any particular pitch, but I knew he throws a good forkball," Kim said. "I didn't want to be late on anything he threw, and I tried to put the barrel on the ball."
This was Kim's 36th career Korean Series game. For Park Dong-won, whose two-run home run opened the ninth-inning drama, it was No. 23. "I haven't played as many Korean Series games (as Kim), but I don't remember ever having played in a game like this," the 35-year-old said. "This was such an incredible game."
Park is no stranger to Korean Series heroics, having launched a couple of big homers during the Twins' 2023 title run. "I was the main character back then," Park said, laughing. "But this win feels pretty good, too, because every one of us played a big part."
With two homers and six RBIs in this series so far, Park has built a strong case as the Korean Series MVP. "Now that I've come this far, I'd love to win the MVP here," Park said. "But at the end of the day, we have to win the championship for me or any one of my teammates to be MVP. So I will just try to help us win tomorrow."