Twins manager says team due for win over rival in postseason

GWANGJU — With his LG Twins having dropped seven straight games against the Kia Tigers in the regular season, manager Youm Kyoung-youb said Saturday they are determined to punch right back in the postseason.

The Twins and the Tigers are facing off in the best-of-five first round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason, starting Saturday at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju.

The Tigers held off the Twins to grab the third seed and earn a bye to this round, while the Twins ended up in fourth place and had to beat the Doosan Bears in the wild card game Wednesday. Losing to the Tigers on the final day of the regular season Monday here in Gwangju sealed the Twins’ fate.

“We kept losing to Kia in some crucial games late in the season and it forced us to look at ourselves in the mirror and figure out what went wrong,” Youm said in his pregame media availability. “I think it will help us in this postseason round.”

Youm predicted that stopping Tigers slugger Kim Do-yeong from doing much damage will go a long way toward helping the Twins. Kim led the regular season with 45 home runs and ranked among the KBO leaders in other major offensive categories.

“We cannot afford to put base runners in front of Do-yeong,” Youm said. “Our advance scouts have done their work.”

The injury-plagued lineup welcomed back veteran shortstop Oh Ji-hwan, who had been out since Oct. 5 with a left knee injury.

“He has recovered well and he should have no problem hitting and fielding,” Youm said. “We did our final check on him yesterday.”

Another injured player, closer Son Ju-young, is on the roster, after missing the wild card game due to a herniated neck disk.

“We will test him in a middle relief role first and if all goes well, we will put him back in the closer spot,” Youm said of his left-hander.