Up against former major league ERA champion Ryu Hyun-jin to begin the South Korean baseball season Saturday, Shin Min-jae and Park Hae-min credited their approach for helping them deliver key hits. In the Twins' 8-2 win over Ryu's Eagles, Shin drove in the first two runs with a single in the second. Then Park hit the go-ahead single that broke the 2-2 deadlock in the fourth inning, and Ryu got the hook two batters later. Both of those hits came off Ryu's fastball, and that was by design. "He is such a huge control artist that I tried to get to him early in the count," Shin said. "I figured he wouldn't throw a changeup against a left-handed batter like me. So I was trying to sit on either a fastball or a curveball. I was still looking for a fastball after two strikes, and it led to the great result that I had today." Shin came up with the bases loaded against one of the best pitchers in Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) history, but he said he was not fazed by the moment. "I wasn't thinking about the par ticular situation," Shin said of facing the 2019 National League All-Star. "I was just looking for a pitch to hit." Park had grounded out and flied out in his two earlier at-bats against Ryu before the fourth inning single. He saw five straight fastballs the first time up, but saw a curveball, a changeup and a cutter in the second at-bat. "I expected to see some fastball in my third time, because I didn't see any fastball in the previous at-bat," Park said. "I didn't want to get beat by his fastball. And because he usually has great command of his pitches, I didn't want to fall behind the count and tried to stay aggressive." That approach paid off as Park jumped on the first-pitch fastball from Ryu. The pitcher gave up two more singles after that as the Twins' lead ballooned to 5-2. Before taking his first at-bat, Park took off his helmet and bowed to Ryu. He said he had some discussions with the Twins' veterans on how to react to Ryu's homecoming. Ryu, who had spent the past 11 years in Major League Base ball, was making his first KBO start since October 2012. "We decided we want to show him our respect for making us proud over the years," Park said. "We wanted to thank him for all he has done for the country." Source: Yonhap News Agency