Twins outlast Wiz to reach verge of KBO postseason series win

Powered by a pair of homers and a dominant relief outing from a young hurler, the LG Twins outlasted the KT Wiz 6-5 on Tuesday to move within a win of reaching the next round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason.

Austin Dean slugged a three-run homer off starter Wes Benjamin in the fifth to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of Seoul, after Park Dong-won had opened the scoring with a solo homer in the second.

Starter-turned-reliever Son Ju-young twirled 5 1/3 shutout innings out of the pen and struck out seven to win in his postseason debut in front of a sellout crowd of 17,600.

The Wiz made things interesting in the bottom ninth with Bae Jung-dae's two-run homer off closer You Young-chan, but Elieser Hernandez came out of the bullpen to put out the fire and got the final two outs.

After taking this sloppy game with multiple lead changes, the Twins now lead the best-of-five series 2-1 and can close out the Wiz in Game 4, set for a 2 p.m. start Wednesday back at KT Wiz Park.