Facing KBO postseason exit, Twins manager shuffles lineup in search of spark

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Oct. 20 (Yonhap) -- With his team pushed to the brink of early elimination a year after winning the South Korean baseball title, LG Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb said Tuesday his offense has to get hot in a hurry.

The Twins lost the first two games of their best-of-five Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason series against the Kia Tigers over the weekend.

The two teams have each recorded 16 hits in those two games, but the Tigers have outscored the Twins 11-4. The Twins are batting .250 with runners in scoring position, but the Tigers have put up a .455 mark in the same situation.

"As we saw in the first two games, we have to win the battle of the offense," Youm said in his pregame media availability at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. "I think pitching has been fairly even. We just need two or three guys to come up with big swings and get the job done."

Youm removed rookie Moon Jeong-bin from the cleanup spot after he had gone 1-for-8 in the two earlier games. Song Chan-eui, who homered in Game 1, will be the new cleanup man Tuesday.

In other changes, outfielder Moon Sung-ju drew into the starting lineup for the first time, and shortstop Oh Ji-hwan moved up from No. 7 to No. 2.

"Ultimately, the key will be how well we can hit," Youm said.

Youm's counterpart, Lee Bum-ho, also made some changes. With the right-hander Carlos Carrasco starting for the Twins, Lee put seven left-handed batters in his starting lineup. Catcher Kim Tae-gun and center fielder Kim Ho-ryung will start Tuesday on the bench.

Carrasco held right-handed batters to a .185 batting average in the regular season, but lefties batted .267 against him.

"We considered Carrasco's right-left splits. And also, we didn't have enough right-handed pinch-hitting options earlier in the series," Lee said. "Against left-handed relievers, I wanted to save some right-handed options off the bench."

After using only four relievers so far this series, Lee said it was time to give the Twins a different look, with left-handed long reliever Lee Eui-lee waiting in the wings.

If starter Keisho Shirakawa falters early, Lee Eui-lee, who split his regular season in the rotation and the bullpen, will be available to eat up multiple innings, the manager said.

"If Shirakawa looks shaky after the first couple of innings, we will make a quick call to the bullpen," Lee Bum-ho said. "We will try to keep things close until the fifth inning and then turn to our high-leverage guys the rest of the way."