SEOUL– 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.
Kelly now boasts a 3-0 record in five postseason starts, with an impressive 2.01 ERA.
Kelly said afterward he felt no added pressure of trying to extend his winning streak.
“It’s a great feeling to know that when I have the ball, we win every game. It’s awesome,” Kelly said. “It was all-around a great performance, from hitters to defense to pitching. It was really fun to be a part of that tonight.”
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.
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.
“It wasn’t my best early on,” Kelly said. “Kang-nam just kept telling me to relax and pitch my game. Early in the game, I wanted to establish my curveball and fastball. And second time through the lineup, to be able use the pitch (slider) that I didn’t use the first time through was really important.”
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.
While the Heroes made four errors that led to three unearned runs, the Twins played, in Kelly’s word, “amazing” defense all game. Third baseman Moon Bo-gyeong and shortstop Oh Ji-hwan each made slick catches on difficult grounders, while left fielder Kim Hyun-soo, not always known for his glove, opened the game with a fine sliding grab on a flyball to shallow left.
“The four years I’ve been here, this is the best team we’ve had. The vibe in the dugout and the clubhouse is the best that it has been. I am just thankful to be part of the team,” Kelly said. “Our main goal from the beginning of the season was to win the Korean Series, and that’s still our goal. But we’re just focused on this series and taking it one step at a time.”
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.
Closer Go Woo-suk worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts for the save.
This postseason meeting between the Twins and the Heroes comes with an added intrigue. On Oct. 10, Go announced he will marry the younger sister of the Heroes outfielder Lee Jung-hoo in January next year. Go and Lee have been friends for years, and the future brothers-in-law are now battling for a ticket to the Korean Series.
Go insisted the spotlight should be on the clubs, not individual players.
“This series is really not about me and Jung-hoo, but about the two teams here. I don’t even know why I am getting all that attention,” Go said. “I am just concentrating on trying to win the series. I am not even that embarrassed about all this. I am too locked in right now.”
Go is playing in his fourth postseason now, and he said he’s trying to make the most of the experience he’d built over the years.
“I didn’t know this then, but looking back on it now, I realize how I just went after hitters without a proper plan,” Go said. “I barely knew the strengths and weaknesses of hitters I was facing. But lack of experience is not going to be an excuse in this stage of the postseason. I am happy to get off to a good start of this series.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency