LG Twins defeat Hanwha Eagles in five games, claim 2025 Korean Series
The LG Twins defeated the Hanwha Eagles in five games and claimed the Korean Series title. It's their second title in three years and the franchise's fourth.
The Twins won the first two games on home soil at the Jamsil Baseball Stadium, but gave up Game Three at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark after taking a lead in the bottom of the eighth. They came from behind to win Game Four and dominated the rubber match. All five Korean Series games were sold out, attracting an average of 20,890 spectators per game, totalling 104,450.
Korean Series 2025 Results
Twins-Eagles 8-2
Twins-Eagles 13-5
Eagles-Twins 7-3
Eagles-Twins 4-7
Eagles-Twins 1-4
The Twins had an impressive start to their series. Jin-sung Kim, a 40-year-old veteran, and Seung-ki Song, a 23-year-old rookie starter turned reliever, made an impact in the first two games. Premier12 stars Bogyeong Moon (five RBIs) and Dongwon Park, who hit a two-run homer in game two, provided the offensive highlights.
After hurting themselves with too many walks, the Eagles turned to the season's star pitcher, and WBSC Premier12 alum. Cody Ponce. Despite a solid outing, Ponce allowed a homer to 37-year-old veteran Hyun-soo Kim, a WBSC Premier12 2015 winner and Beijing 2008 Olympics gold medalist. Ponce left with the Eagles trailing 3-1, but his offence scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth against set-up man Seung-ki Song and closer Young-chan You. Woo-jun Sim hit the go-ahead two-run double.
Things went the opposite way in Game Four. Right-hander Ryan Weiss, whom the fans nicknamed Daejeon Jesus, limited the Twins to one run over 7.2 innings, but the Hanwha Eagles bullpen allowed six runs in the top of the ninth. Donwon Park hit a two-run homer. Hyun-soo Kim hit a two-out and two-RBI single off Sang-won Park. It was his 102nd postseason hit, a new KBO record.
Anders Tolhurst threw seven strong innings for the Twins in Game Five, allowing only one run. Jin-sung Kim pitched the eighth, and the Twins closer and WBSC Premier12 star Young-chan You took care of the ninth. Hyun-soo Kim had three hits and batted in two runs, earning the Korean Series MVP honours.
Kim went 9-for-17, a .529 average, with five walks. He led the Twins in batting average and tied Bogyeong Moon, Korea's starting first baseman at the WBSC Premier12 2024, for the team lead with eight RBIs. In the Korean Series, Kim struck out just twice in 22 at-bats.
"I will enjoy this for one week," the Yonhap News Agency quoted Twins manager Kyoung-youb Youm postgame. "After we won the 2023 title, we finished in third place in 2024, and that was a big disappointment. I will sit down with the coaching staff and the front office to figure out how we should prepare for the new season so that we'll be back here as champions again next year."
Cover photo: Korean Baseball Organisation (KBO) social media.