Professional baseball's LG Twins defeated the Doosan Bears and advanced to the semi-playoffs (semi-PO, 3 wins out of 5 games).
LG, ranked 4th in the regular league, defeated Doosan, ranked 5th, 4-1 in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO postseason wild card game held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 14th with Austin Dean's go-ahead two-run shot in the first inning and an additional two runs in the 8th inning.
In the wild card match, if the 4th place team draws or wins, they will immediately advance to semi-PO. The 5th place team must win all wild card matches of up to 2 games to advance to the semi-PO.
LG will play the first semi-PO game against the third-place KIA Tigers at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do at 2 p.m. on the 17th.
While LG will continue to play fall baseball at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which will be demolished at the end of this year, its 'rival under one roof', Doosan, was eliminated at the start of the postseason and ended in 2026.
LG finally won its 7th postseason match against Doosan.
LG defeated Doosan for the first time in the wild card match following semi-POs in 1993 and 1998.
Doosan defeated LG four times in a row in the PO in 2000 and 2013, and in the semi-PO in 2020 and 2021, but bowed to LG in the fall for the first time in 28 years.
Baseball begins in the fall of 2026 with the starting pitcher match between Kwak Bin (Doosan), who ranked first in ERA (2.24) and strikeouts (197) this season, and Carlos Carrasco (LG), a veteran with a total of 112 wins in the Major League Baseball (MLB).
Kwak Bin, who led Korean baseball to its 5th consecutive win at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, attempted to escape the fall baseball jinx this time, but encountered a rock from the first inning.
Until last year, he had pitched in a total of 6 postseason games, losing 3 and having an ERA of 7.58.
He threw a slow curve to the first batter, Hong Chang-gi, and hit him in the body, sending him to first base. He guided Park Hae-min to a ground ball and caught Hong Chang-ki at second base, but could not get past Austin.
When Austin Kwak Bin's high curve came in, he pulled it with force, made a two-run arch that went over the left fence, and roared.
In the bottom of the second inning, LG had a golden opportunity to pull Kwak Bin off the mound with the bases loaded and no outs due to leadoff Koo Bon-hyuk's double to left-center, Park Dong-won's walk, and Doosan third baseman Ahn Jae-seok's throwing error.
However, Kwak Bin overcame a critical point by striking out Hong Chang-gi, Park Hae-min, and Austin in succession with a powerful, high, fast ball reaching over 150 km/h.
Doosan's troubles, which struggled with low scoring power despite a stable mound, continued in the postseason.
In the 1st and 2nd consecutive innings, the leadoff hitter reached base with a single, but Doosan, who was unable to score, was forced to retire by a three-way strike to Carrasco in the 3rd and 5th consecutive innings, and was unable to find a breakthrough.
When Kwak Bin went 6 innings without allowing any additional runs, allowing 3 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts, and 2 runs, the Doosan batting line finally struck back in the 7th inning.
When the leadoff batter, Yunior Severino, got on base with a heavy hit, Yang Eui-ji hit a double to open the opportunity to tie the game at second and third base with no outs.
After Kang Seung-ho was hit by a ball from LG relief pitcher John Kennedy, leading to a chance to load the bases with one out, pinch hitter Yang Seok-hwan scored an RBI with a sacrifice fly. LG center fielder Park Hae-min cleared the ball that seemed to cut through right-center field with a full-throttle sprint, preventing the game from giving up one run.
Doosan sparked a comeback with a double steal with two outs and runners on second and third base, but they swallowed their disappointment when pinch hitter Park Ji-hoon was caught with a ground ball.
LG, which was walking on thin ice with a 2-1 lead, predicted victory in the top of the 8th inning with one out and runners on first and second base when the fourth pitcher, left-hander Lee Woo-chan, struck out Severino and Ryu Seung-min in succession.
LG, having overcome the final hurdle, added a run in the bottom of the 8th inning with Shin Min-jae's clever safety squeeze bunt at first and third bases with one out and hits by Song Chan-eui and Park Dong-won, and received the white flag from Doosan. In the ensuing chances, the signs between Doosan pitcher Lee Young-ha and catcher Kim Ki-yeon did not match, so the 1 point gained through a wild pitch was a bonus.
Carrasco, who surprised everyone with 7 innings of perfect pitching in his KBO League debut against Doosan on August 1, tied up the Doosan batting line with 4 hits and 1 run in 6 innings that day and led the team to a semi-PO.
Austin received Daily Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Potato Chip's 'Batting of the Day Award' (final hit), earning 1 million won each and 2 million won in extra money.
