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Tuesday, November 12, 2024

The 2024 KBO postseason will feature a rematch from 2023.

The defending Korean baseball champions LG Twins and the runners-up KT Wiz will go at it again this fall. As the No. 3 seed, the Twins earned a bye to this round and will have the home field advantage. The Wiz took a much longer route to get here. After Thursday’s game, Wiz manager Lee Kang-chul said he wouldn’t have used Ko if the score hadn’t been so tight. Many players of the championship core are still with the Twins, and manager Youm Kyoung-youb said he is counting on them to deliver in big games once again. Ko at least did himself and his team a favor by making quick work of the Bears on Thursday. The Wiz took the opener 3-2. Ko then worked a scoreless eighth inning in Thursday’s win. The Twins took the next two games handily to clinch their first Korean Series title since 1994. After playing three “win-or-go-home” games in three days, the Wiz will only have Friday off to take a breather before jumping right back into the postseason grind. He allowed 13 hits, including three home runs, in 12 innings, but Enns was still named the Game 1 starter Friday. In the 2023 Korean Series, the Twins beat the Wiz in five games. The best-of-five series begins at 2 p.m. Saturday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, the Twins’ home in Seoul. “Our players gained so much confidence from winning the title last year and I expect them to perform to the best of their abilities in this series,” Youm said Thursday. The Wiz led the second game 4-3 through seven innings, before Park Dong-won delivered a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth for a 5-4 win. The Wiz outhomered the Twins by nine in head-to-head meetings. The Twins smacked 12 home runs in those 16 contests, led by five from third baseman Moon Bo-gyeong. If William Cuevas starts Game 2 on three days’ rest Sunday, then he can play Game 3 on Tuesday after four days of rest. Cuevas struggled in his only regular-season start against the Twins on June 8, giving up seven runs in five innings.

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