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Twins, Eagles prepare for showdown in final 3-game series of KBO regular season

Published: 23 Sep. 2025, 15:15 Updated: 23 Sep. 2025, 18:57

The LG Twins celebrate after an 8-1 win over the Hanwha Eagles at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Aug. 9. [YONHAP]

The LG Twins and Hanwha Eagles will face off in the final three-game series of the 2025 KBO regular season, with the Twins in position to clinch the regular campaign title as early as this weekend.

The two teams will go head-to-head from Friday to Sunday at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon. As of Monday, the Twins hold a three-game lead with 83 wins, 3 draws and 51 losses and a winning percentage of 0.619. They are ahead of the Eagles, with 80 wins, 3 draws and 54 losses, and a 0.597 winning percentage.

The Twins have reduced their magic number to five. The number decreases by one with every Twins win or Eagles loss, and by two when the Twins win head-to-head. Even a single win in this series could all but secure the top spot for the Twins. The Eagles must sweep all three games to stay in contention.

Before the showdown in Daejeon, both clubs play two games each. The Twins face the NC Dinos in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, on Wednesday and the Lotte Giants in Ulsan on Thursday before heading to Daejeon. The Eagles play the SSG Landers in Incheon on Wednesday and the Doosan Bears in southern Seoul on Thursday before returning home.

The Twins plan to start their top three pitchers in order.

"Anders Tolhurst, Yonny Chirinos and Im Chan-kyu will take the mound against the Eagles," Twins manager Yeom Kyung-yup said.

Yeom added that he hoped to rest Tolhurst if the club was able to secure a direct berth to the Korean Series early, but the magic number still stands. At most, it can shrink to four before the opener, leaving the decisive games to be played in Daejeon.

Tolhurst, who joined late in the season, faces the Eagles for the first time. He struggled in his Saturday outing against the Samsung Lions in southern Seoul, giving up six earned runs in three innings.

A strong rebound would give the Twins an important lift. Im, with an ERA of 0.62 over four games, is known as an “Eagles killer,” while Chirinos, with an ERA of 1.38 over two games, has also been effective against the Daejeon side.

The Eagles are set to counter with ace Cody Ponce and fourth starter Moon Dong-ju.

The Hanwha Eagles celebrate winning a KBO game against the Lotte Giants at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon on Aug. 12. [YONHAP]

Ponce leads the league with 17 wins, an earned run average of 1.85 and 242 strikeouts. His 17-game winning streak ended on Saturday against the KT Wiz in Suwon, Gyeonggi, when he gave up four runs in five innings — but he remains the club’s most trusted pitcher.

Moon, meanwhile, has conserved energy by skipping one rotation spot thanks to a schedule with extended rest days.

He pitched in relief against the Wiz on Saturday, throwing three scoreless innings with one hit and no walks. He also reached a top speed of 161.4 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour), breaking the KBO record for the fastest pitch thrown by a Korean pitcher.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY BAE YOUNG-EUN [[email protected]]