By hammering three home runs in their first game in more than two weeks Sunday, the Samsung Lions put to rest any concerns about rust. Koo Ja-wook, Kim Young-woong and Lewin Diaz each went deep in the Lions' 10-4 win over the LG Twins to begin the best-of-five second round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason. Koo Ja-wook of the Samsung Lions hits a three-run home run against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Yonhap) Koo Ja-wook of the Samsung Lions hits a three-run home run against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Yonhap) In a quirky structure in the Korean league, higher-seeded teams enjoy longer breaks than their opponents in every series. The Lions, after finishing second in the regular se ason, earned a bye to the second round and had last played on Sept. 28 before Sunday's game. The Twins ranked third in the regular season, and they had to knock off the KT Wiz in a hard-fought, five-game series last week to reach this stage. Lewin Diaz of the Samsung Lions hits a two-run home run against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Yonhap) Lewin Diaz of the Samsung Lions hits a two-run home run against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Yonhap) The "rust vs. rest" debate often dominates the KBO postseason. For teams coming off long layoffs, hitters have typically struggled to get into the rhythm in early innings, while their counterparts, as fatigued as they may be, have tended to look sharper. That nar rative didn't play out Sunday. The Lions scored in the first inning off a sacrifice fly following a double and a single, and by the fifth inning, they had three homers and every member of the starting lineup had at least a hit. They finished with 14 hits overall. Kim Young-woong of the Samsung Lions hits a solo home run against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Yonhap) Kim Young-woong of the Samsung Lions hits a solo home run against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Yonhap) Koo fired the opening salvo in the third inning with the Lions up 1-0. After two straight singles that opened the inning, Koo jumped on a belt-high cutter from starter Choi Won-tae and sent it 125 meters into the right-center field seats. Kim led off the fourth with a solo shot, and Diaz landed another big blow with his two-run blast in the fifth, putting the Lions up 7-1. Koo had three hits in this game, as the Lions captain picked up right where he left off in the most productive regular season of his career. Samsung Lions starter Denyi Reyes pitches against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Yonhap) Samsung Lions starter Denyi Reyes pitches against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Yonhap) Koo set career highs with 33 home runs, 115 RBIs and a .627 slugging percentage, leading the way for the best home run-hitting in the regular season. Koo was voted the Player of the Game, but he could not attend the postgame press conference because he fe ll ill after the game. A Lions official said Koo had been taken to a local hospital for nausea and vomiting. Lions manager Park Jin-man said he had no idea Koo was so sick, though he did notice that the ebullient star was unusually quiet in the dugout during the game. "He hid his condition from everyone and still played such a great game," Park marveled. "That showed me what a great captain he is." Samsung Lions starter Denyi Reyes tips his cap toward fans as he leaves the mound during the top of the seventh inning of Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason against the LG Twins at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Yonhap) Samsung Lions starter Denyi Reyes tips his cap toward fans as he leaves the mound during the top of the seventh inning of Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason against the LG Twins at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 13, 2 024. (Yonhap) Batting in front of Koo in the No. 2 spot, Yoon Jeong-bin was an unsung hero in this game. He batted 3-for-4 with three runs scored in his postseason debut and said later he wasn't all that nervous on the big stage. "I tried to see this game just like any other regular-season game, and I think it helped," Yoon said. "After hitting a double in my first at-bat, I was able to enjoy the game the rest of the way." Yoon said he wasn't worried about feeling rust after only playing in scrimmages and practice games over the past two weeks. "I worked hard to stay sharp mentally as well as physically," the 25-year-old said. "I felt LG pitchers were trying to be aggressive, and I wanted to match their aggression." The offensive outburst made a winner out of Lions starter Denyi Reyes, though he didn't even need that much run support. He held the Twins hitless through three innings, and the only damage done against him was a solo shot by Oh Ji-hwan in the fourth. The Twins scored two more runs off an er ror by Diaz with Reyes out of the game and another run with Shin Min-jae's RBI single in the seventh inning, but that was the extent of their offense. Reyes tossed 101 pitches, 67 for strikes. He mixed in cutters, changeups, sliders and two-seam fastballs to get plenty of weak contact, and ended up getting eight groundouts. Yoon Jeong-bin of the Samsung Lions celebrates after hitting a double against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason against the LG Twins at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Yonhap) Yoon Jeong-bin of the Samsung Lions celebrates after hitting a double against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason against the LG Twins at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Yonhap) Reyes said he was happy to get the ball in the first game of the postseason and to deliver the goods on the mo und. Reyes likely would have been the Game 2 starter behind Connor Seabold, but Seabold is out with a shoulder injury. Reyes said he received some words of encouragement from Seabold prior to the postseason. "He told me that you got a good pitch and I think you can do a really good job," Reyes added. Without Seabold, the Lions will use three starters to get through this best-of-five series. Reyes is lined up to start Game 4 on Thursday, if the series goes that far, on three days' rest. He never pitched on such short rest during the regular season, but the Dominican right-hander said the postseason is different. "It's the playoffs. We need to be ready every day," he said. "I pitched today, but if I need to get the ball in four days, I think it will be good." Source: Yonhap News Agency
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