Austin Hits Winning Two-Run Homer to Send LG to Semi-PO Against KIA

The professional baseball team LG Twins has advanced to the semi-playoffs (best-of-five) after defeating the Doosan Bears.

Regular-season fourth-place LG edged fifth-place Doosan 4-1 today (the 14th) at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul during the first game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Postseason Wild Card Round, powered by Austin Dean's opening, game-winning two-run homer in the first inning and two additional runs in the eighth.

In the Wild Card Round, the fourth-place team advances straight to the semi-playoffs with a win or a draw.

The fifth-place team must win both games of the Wild Card Round, which can span up to two games, to reach the semi-playoffs.

LG will face the third-place KIA Tigers in the first game of the semi-playoffs at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on the 17th at 2:00 PM.

While LG will continue its fall baseball journey at Jamsil Baseball Stadium—which is scheduled for demolition after this year—their cross-town rivals Doosan were eliminated at the start of the postseason, bringing their 2026 season to a close.

LG secured a rare victory in their 7th postseason matchup against Doosan.

LG previously defeated Doosan in the semi-playoffs in 1993 and 1998, but this marks their first-ever postseason series victory over Doosan in the Wild Card Round.

Doosan had previously defeated LG four consecutive times in the playoffs in 2000 and 2013, and in the semi-playoffs in 2020 and 2021, but fell to LG in the fall for the first time in 28 years.

The 2026 fall baseball season kicked off with a marquee starting pitching matchup between Doosan's Gwak 빈, who led the regular season in ERA (2.24) and strikeouts (197), and veteran Carlos Carrasco of LG, who recorded 112 wins in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Gwak, who also spearheaded South Korea's fifth consecutive gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, sought to shake off his postseason "jinx" this time, but hit a snag right from the first inning.

Heading into this game, he had struggled in the postseason with 3 losses and a 7.58 ERA across 6 career appearances up to last year.

He threw a slow curveball to leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki, hitting him with the pitch and sending him to first base.

Although he induced subsequent batter Park Hae-min into a grounder to force out Hong Chang-ki at second, he could not get past Austin.

When Gwak left a high curveball over the plate, Austin powerfully pulled it over the left-field fence for a two-run blast, letting out a roar.

In the bottom of the second, LG seized a golden opportunity to chase Gwak from the mound when leadoff hitter Koo Bon-hyuk hit a double to left-center, Park Dong-won drew a walk, and Doosan third baseman An Jae-seok committed a throwing error, loading the bases with no outs.

However, Gwak escaped the jam by striking out Hong Chang-ki, Park Hae-min, and Austin in succession with powerful high fastballs exceeding 150 km/h.

Doosan's persistent struggles with low scoring output despite a stable pitching staff continued into the postseason.

Although leadoff hitters reached base with hits in both the first and second innings, Doosan failed to convert them into runs, and were subsequently retired in order by Carrasco from the third to fifth innings, failing to find a breakthrough.

After Gwak held LG scoreless for 6 innings, allowing 3 hits, 3 walks, and 10 strikeouts without giving up any further runs, Doosan's offense finally mounted a counterattack in the 7th.

Leadoff and 3rd hitter Junior Severino got on base with a center-field single, and Yang Eui-ji followed with a double down the right-field line to create a no-out, runners-on-second-and-third scoring opportunity to tie the game.

Kang Seung-ho was hit by a pitch from LG relief pitcher John Kennedy, loading the bases with one out, after which pinch hitter Yang Seok-hwan drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

LG center fielder Park Hae-min made a diving, all-out defensive play to rob what looked like a hit slicing into right-center, limiting the damage to a single run.

Doosan kept the spark of a comeback alive with a double steal to put runners on second and third with two outs, but pinch hitter Park Ji-hoon grounded out, leaving them to swallow their disappointment.

Walking a tightrope with a 2-1 lead, LG sensed victory in the top of the 8th inning when, facing a 1-out, runners-on-first-and-second crisis, their fourth pitcher, left-hander Lee Woo-chan, struck out Severino and Ryu Seung-min back-to-back.

Having survived the final hurdle, LG sealed Doosan's surrender in the bottom of the 8th when Song Chan-ui and Park Dong-won hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third with one out, followed by Shin Min-jae executing a clever safety squeeze bunt to add another run.

An extra run gifted by a wild pitch stemming from a sign mix-up between Doosan pitcher Lee Young-ha and catcher Kim Ki-yeon during the ensuing opportunity was a welcome bonus.

Carrasco, who stunned fans on August 1 with a 7-inning perfect game in his KBO League debut against Doosan, once again locked down Doosan's lineup on this day with 6 innings of 4-hit, 1-run pitching, guiding his team to the semi-playoffs.

Austin was named Daily MVP and won the Potato Chip "Today's Batting Touch Award" (for the game-winning hit), pocketing 1 million won for each to take home a total of 2 million won in extra cash.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.