KBO Recap: Kiwoom Heroes 4-3 LG Twins | August 12 Highlights & Scores

Kiwoom Edges LG in Wild Eighth-Inning Finish

The Kiwoom Heroes pulled off an improbable comeback victory against the LG Twins on Tuesday night, winning 4-3 in a game that featured defensive miscues, multiple relief appearances, and enough drama to test the patience of both dugouts. Playing in front of a modest crowd at Gocheok Sky Dome, Kiwoom struck when it mattered most, capitalizing on LG’s bullpen struggles in the middle innings to secure their third win in the last ten games.

For most of the evening, it looked like LG’s pitching would hold sway. Starter Im Chan-gyu kept Kiwoom’s bats relatively quiet through the first five innings, scattering just one hit while striking out seven. But baseball games aren’t won in the early innings, and the Heroes’ patience at the plate finally paid off when the Twins’ relief corps began to unravel.

The turning point arrived suddenly in the seventh and eighth innings. After Im exited with a respectable 6⅓ innings of work, LG’s relief staff couldn’t find their footing. Kim Jin-seo inherited runners in scoring position but couldn’t record an out, entering the game cold and allowing inherited runners to score. Then came the eighth inning—chaos on multiple levels.

Moon Jung-bin, the Twins’ most dangerous bat on the night, connected off Yuto for a two-run homer to briefly push LG ahead 3-2. The blast had the Twins’ bench on their feet, believing they’d seized control. But Kiwoom answered immediately. The Heroes’ bats, which had looked befuddled against Im’s stuff, suddenly found their rhythm against the succession of Twins relievers.

Park Jin-hyung took the mound for Kiwoom in a relief role and earned the victory despite throwing just two-thirds of an inning. It wasn’t a performance that will show up in highlight reels, but in a game this messy, clean doesn’t matter—wins do. Won Jong-hyun recorded the save by pitching the ninth, stranding a runner on first and closing out the game despite allowing a base hit.

Kiwoom’s starting pitcher Jeon Jun-pyo deserved better than a no-decision. Working five innings, he scattered just one hit while walking three and striking out four. His command wasn’t sharp, but his stuff was enough to frustrate LG’s lineup. The problem was that Kiwoom couldn’t generate offense early, leaving Jeon to work in a scoreless game through five frames.

The Heroes’ approach finally cracked through in the middle innings. Seo Geon-chang went 4-for-4, an outstanding individual effort that highlighted Kiwoom’s grinding at-bat quality late in the game. His stolen base in the fourth inning kept the pressure on LG’s defense even when runs weren’t crossing the plate. Kim Woong-bin contributed a crucial hit, as did Davidson with a single that set up scoring opportunities.

Moon Jung-bin’s two-run shot was the offensive highlight for LG, and it came at a moment when the Twins desperately needed it. The home run marked his eleventh of the season and suggested he might carry his team to victory. Park Dong-won drove in a run with just three at-bats, but it wasn’t enough to offset the damage done by Kiwoom’s late-inning rally and LG’s defensive lapses.

Sloppy play haunted both sides. Hong Chang-gi made an error in the sixth inning; the Heroes’ Oh Ji-hwan committed a mistake in the eighth. Then came a ninth-inning error by Yeo Dong-wook that kept Kiwoom’s hopes alive in the final frame. These lapses, more than any dominant pitching performance, defined the contest. Umpires Chung Jong-soo, Oh Hun-gyu, Lee Gye-sung, and Gu Myeong-hwan worked the four-person crew.

With this win, Kiwoom improves their record to 40-2-69, still fighting to climb out of tenth place. LG, sitting in third with a 59-1-48 record, must regroup quickly after this unexpected setback. The Twins controlled the game for stretches, but in baseball, control means nothing without results. Kiwoom found their results when they needed them most, stealing two points on the road and leaving Seoul with the kind of victory that builds momentum.