Down Five, Then Dominant: The Twins' Wild Night in Busan

So here's the thing about the LG Twins — you probably shouldn't count them out. Not even when they're staring down a five-run deficit on the road. On Wednesday night at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, the Twins put together one of the more dramatic comebacks of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season, rallying from a 6-1 hole to beat the Lotte Giants 8-6 and secure their fourth straight win.

For those new to Korean baseball, the KBO is South Korea's top professional baseball league, featuring ten teams and a passionate fanbase that rivals anything you'd find in Major League Baseball. The LG Twins, based in Seoul, are one of the league's most storied franchises — and right now, they're playing like it.

With Wednesday's win, the Twins moved to 30-19-0 (wins-losses-ties), becoming the first team in the KBO to hit the 30-win mark this season. The Lotte Giants, meanwhile, dropped to 19-28-1 and are having a tough go of it in the southern port city.

A Rough Start for Chirinos

The early innings told a very different story. LG starter Yonny Chirinos, a Venezuelan right-hander, was having an absolute nightmare of a second inning. After Kim Dong-hyun smacked a solo home run — the first of his professional career, by the way — Chirinos seemed to settle things down with two strikeouts. Then his fellow Venezuelan Victor Reyes stepped up and demolished a three-run shot to right field, blowing the Giants' lead out to 6-1.

Chirinos was eventually pulled after just 3 and 2/3 innings, charged with all six earned runs. At that point, the Twins had a mountain to climb.

The Slow Burn Comeback

What's really interesting is how methodical the Twins were about clawing their way back. They didn't pull off some magical grand slam — they just kept chipping away, inning by inning.

  • In the third inning, Cheon Seong-ho's groundout brought in a run to make it 6-2.
  • Park Dong-won then launched a two-run home run off Giants starter Na Gyun-an to cut the lead to 6-4. That was his second homer in back-to-back games.
  • The fourth inning saw Park Hae-min's sacrifice fly trim the deficit to just one run at 6-5.

The Twins had gone from five runs down to one — but the big moment was still coming.

Moon Jeong-bin: The Pinch-Hit Hero

The seventh inning is where the story really gets good. With two outs and two runners on base, manager Youm Kyoung-youb called on Moon Jeong-bin off the bench. Moon delivered in the most dramatic way possible — a pinch-hit triple off the wall in right field that scored both runners and gave the Twins a 7-6 lead. Two batters later, Gu Bon-hyeok added an infield single to push it to 8-6.

That was the ballgame, essentially. Five LG relievers combined to hold the Giants scoreless from the fourth inning onward. Kim Jin-sung threw a clean eighth, and closer Son Ju-young slammed the door in the ninth for the save, despite a brief scare when Go Seung-min singled to lead off — only to get thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

Technically, the Giants outhit the Twins 12 to 11. But as any baseball fan knows, it's not about how many hits you get — it's about when you get them.

Manager Youm Gives Credit All Around

"It was a difficult game for us early on with Chirinos struggling, but our high-leverage relievers all did their job. Our offense has been struggling of late but I feel like the bats are coming back to life. We gave up an early lead but our guys never gave up."

That last line from manager Youm Kyoung-youb really sums up what this team has been about lately. Four wins in a row, first to 30 victories, and now looking very much like the team to beat in the KBO this season.

What This Means for the KBO Standings

Reaching 30 wins before anyone else in the league is a significant milestone, especially this early in the season. It signals that the Twins aren't just on a hot streak — they've built something sustainable. Their bullpen depth, lineup resilience, and managerial decision-making (that Moon pinch-hit call was a gem) are all clicking at the right time.

For the Lotte Giants, it's a rougher picture. Sitting at 19-28-1, they're well below the playoff line and seem to be struggling with pitching consistency. A pair of home runs surrendered in a single inning is the kind of thing that haunts a team's season.

The Twins will look to keep the momentum going as the KBO season rolls into the summer stretch. If Wednesday night in Busan is any indication, this team has the character to win games in just about any situation.

This article is based on reports from Yonhap News, Breaknews, Breaknews.