Seoul: LG Twins backstop Park Dong-won has been one of the best offensive catchers in South Korean baseball for several years. And on the league’s biggest stage Monday night, Park once again showcased his hitting chops, leading the Twins to their second straight win in the Korean Series with a home run and four RBIs. On top of the home run, Park hit a double and scored twice, as the Twins battered the Hanwha Eagles in a 13-5 victory in Game 2 of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) championship round at Jamsil Baseball Stadium.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Eagles put up a four-spot in the top of the first, but the Twins flipped that 4-0 deficit into a 5-4 lead in the bottom second against starter Ryu Hyun-jin. And it was Park’s two-run double with the bases loaded that fired the opening salvo in that massive inning. Then with the Twins holding a 5-4 lead, Park gave his team more breathing room with a two-run home run off Ryu in the bottom third.
It was Park’s sixth career postseason home run in 50 games, but half of them have now come in the Korean Series. Park had two home runs during the Twins’ five-game victory over the KT Wiz in the 2023 Korean Series, when he batted .313/.421/.688. Park enjoyed his typically strong regular season with 22 home runs and 76 RBIs — his third straight campaign with at least 20 homers and 70 RBIs — and the workhorse backstop missed only five out of 144 games.
Park said after the game that he had a feeling the Twins had to put up some big numbers on the board to take this game. His premonition turned out to be true when the Eagles opened up a 4-0 lead early, and Park was determined to lead his team’s rally. “Even when we got ahead, I felt we had to score even more before they could catch us,” Park said. “Fortunately, my home run gave us the two runs when we really needed them.”
Park turned on a changeup that Ryu left over the heart of the plate. Park said he was looking for a changeup, but against someone of Ryu’s caliber — a two-time Cy Young Award finalist and a National League All-Star Game starter — sitting on a pitch is one thing and hitting a home run off that pitch is quite another. “I was just lucky because there was no guarantee he would make a mistake with his changeup,” Park said. “Hyun-jin has pitched in the World Series. He is the greatest pitcher in Korean history. He has such great command that if you don’t capitalize on one mistake he makes in a game, then you likely won’t get anything against him. But I guess the baseball gods were with us tonight.”
The three-week layoff between the end of the regular season and the start of the Korean Series — they earned a bye as the top seed — apparently has not affected Park and his teammates. That includes Moon Bo-gyeong, who had team highs of four hits and five RBIs on Tuesday. He has gone 6-for-9 with a homer and seven RBIs in two games of this series.
Moon had a poor finish to the regular season, batting just .178 with zero homers and three RBIs in his final 18 games. But he used the buildup to the Korean Series to rediscover the form that had him bat .300 in each of the past three years. Moon ended this season with a .276 average but did set career highs with 24 homers and 108 RBIs. And his power stroke is clearly back.
Moon said he did not do anything special during the pre-Korean Series training camp, other than keep his head down and put in long hours. “Because we didn’t play games during that time, I didn’t have to deal with negative thoughts about my hitting,” Moon said. “I just kept practicing, and it has led to good results so far.”
Moon batted cleanup almost the entire season, before getting dropped to as low as the No. 7 spot during his late-season swoon. He has hit from the No. 5 hole in both games of this series. He said all the right things when asked about his spot in the lineup. “I don’t pay much mind to where I hit,” he said. “Wherever the manager puts me, I just try to do what I am supposed to do from that spot.”