Austin Dean Ties Home Run Lead, Focuses on Championship

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) -- LG Twins slugger Austin Dean moved into a tie for the home run lead in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) on Wednesday by pounding out two dingers -- not that he was paying attention to that race.

The American first baseman is far more interested in another pursuit -- that for his third Korean Series ring.

Dean's solo home run and a grand slam helped the Twins beat the SSG Landers 8-6 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. Now with 19 homers, Dean is tied with Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers atop the home run leaderboard.

More importantly for Dean, the victory kept the Twins in first place at 38-23-0 (wins-losses-ties), 1 1/2 games ahead of the KT Wiz.

"I'm not really searching for titles at the end. It'd be a cool accolade at the end of the year, but it's not a goal of mine right now," Dean told Yonhap News Agency after the Twins' second straight win. "My main goal is just to help this team win and to win more championships. You know, I want to fill my left hand with as many rings as possible and then hopefully move on to the next hand. That to me is what is more worth it."

Dean has been with the Twins since 2023, and helped them win the Korean Series in 2023 and 2025. They are expected to contend for another title this year, and Dean will have a big say in that.

He has hit four homers so far in June. Since 2023, he has hit more home runs than any KBO player with 105.

In Wednesday's game, Dean's solo home run in the bottom of the first inning cut the Landers' lead in half at 2-1. Then in the bottom fifth, his grand slam -- the second of his four-year KBO career -- turned a 5-2 deficit into a 6-5 lead for his team.

The rocket left Dean's bat at 170.4 kilometers per hour at a launch angle of 20.7 degrees -- a frozen rope of a homer that Dean was surprised to see leave the cavernous Jamsil.

"I was just looking at something that I knew I could drive to the outfield," Dean said. "In that situation, you're trying to play team ball, just hit the ball in the outfield, get the run in. My whole goal this year has just been to hit the ball hard, and I feel like I did that right there."

Dean helped the Twins with his glove as well, turning a 3-6 double play in the seventh inning with the Twins nursing a 7-5 lead. Dean, who has said he takes pride in his defense, snagged a grounder off the bat of Jeon Eui-san and stepped on the bag for the first out, before firing a strike to shortstop Oh Ji-hwan to complete the twin killing.

"You don't get those too often, huh?" Dean said, breaking into a grin. "The play here, sometimes a lot of guys will stop in the middle and (the lead runner) kept going. It's been a while since I've gotten to throw an actual fireball to Ji-hwan. I was happy I was able to make that play."