Austin Dean's 2 HRs, Grand Slam Lead Twins Past Landers 8-6

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) -- Austin Dean slugged two home runs, including a lead-flipping grand slam in the fifth inning, as the LG Twins rallied past the SSG Landers 8-6 for their second straight victory in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) on Wednesday.

With the two homers giving him 19 for the season, Dean moved into a tie for the KBO lead with Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers.

The Twins remained at the top of the KBO standings at 38-23-0 (wins-losses-ties) with the win in front of 20,204 fans at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. The Landers, having lost two in a row, stayed in eighth place in the 10-team league at 26-34-1.

The Landers jumped on starter Lachlan Wells for two runs in the top of the first inning, as their first three batters each got a hit.

After Park Seong-han led off the game with a single, Jeong Jun-jae brought him home with a triple to right-center field. Guillermo Heredia then poked a single through the hole in left to drive Jeong home for a 2-0 lead.

The Twins halved that deficit in the bottom first, with Dean delivering a solo home run off starter Choi Min-jun.

The Twins pulled even in the bottom second with some small ball. A single, a walk and a fielder's choice had runners at the corners for Shin Min-jae, who drove in the tying run with an infield single to second baseman Jeong Jun-jae.

Wells, meanwhile, settled down after Heredia's first-inning hit by retiring the next eight batters in order. Heredia himself broke that string with a bloop single with two outs in the top third, but he was stranded when Kim Jae-hwan lined out softly to second baseman Shin Min-jae.

But Wells pitched himself into trouble in the top fourth, giving up two singles and a walk to load the bases. Choi Ji-hoon then hit a sacrifice fly to put the Landers up 3-2.

That lead soon grew to 4-2, as Heredia led off the top fifth with a towering solo shot to left field.

Wells got the hook with one out in the inning after walking two straight batters -- tying his season high with four walks for the game -- and reliever Kim Young-woo spiked a wild pitch to let in another run for a 5-2 Landers lead.

But Dean turned the game upside down with one swing of the bat.

The Twins hit three straight singles to load the bases and chase Choi from the game.

Facing reliever Lee Ro-un with one out, Dean destroyed a 2-1 fastball and deposited it into the seats in left for the go-ahead grand slam.

It was the second slam of Dean's four-year KBO career.

Gu Bon-hyeok's sacrifice fly in the bottom sixth gave the Twins a little more breathing room at 7-5.

The Landers moved within one run again in the top seventh, thanks to Cho Hyeong-woo's two-out double off reliever Kim Jin-sung.

The Twins punched right back in the bottom half of that inning, courtesy of Song Chan-eui's bases-loaded single that restored their two-run lead at 8-6.

The Landers tried to battle back in the top eighth, putting two runners on with the meat of their order coming up against reliever Ham Deok-ju.

However, No. 3 hitter Heredia bounced into a 6-4-3 double play, before cleanup Kim Jae-hwan struck out swinging.

Closer Son Ju-young then got the final three outs for the save.

Yacksel Rios made his Twins debut by throwing a scoreless sixth inning in relief. The Puerto Rican right-hander touched 158 kph with his four-seam fastball, and also offered forkballs and two-seamers to record two flyouts and one strikeout.