Austin Dean Homers on Birthday as LG Eliminates Doosan

Austin Dean celebrated his 33rd birthday with the decisive home run as the LG Twins beat the Doosan Bears 4-1 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on Wednesday, October 14, eliminating their Seoul rivals and advancing to the 2026 KBO Semiplayoff.

Dean put LG in front in the bottom of the first inning, driving a high curveball from Doosan ace Gwak Been over the left-field fence for a two-run homer. The 119-meter shot was the first home run of the 2026 KBO postseason and gave the fourth-seeded Twins the lead they needed to end the Wild Card round in one game.

Dean strikes early against KBO’s ERA leader

Gwak entered the postseason after leading the KBO with a 2.24 ERA and 197 strikeouts, but Dean turned on his 2-2 breaking ball with one out and Park Hae-min aboard. It was Dean’s third career postseason homer and his first in the Wild Card round.

The blast supplied almost all of LG’s offense against Gwak. The right-hander recovered to complete six innings with 10 strikeouts, allowing three hits and two earned runs on 102 pitches.

LG starter Carlos Carrasco protected the advantage with six strong innings. The veteran right-hander allowed four hits and one run, striking out three and walking one on 84 pitches.

Doosan’s only run came in the seventh. Yunior Severino singled, Yang Eui-ji doubled and Yang Suk-hwan lifted a sacrifice fly to center, cutting LG’s lead to 2-1. Reliever Jon Kennedy then escaped the inning with the tying run stranded at third.

LG pulls away and books KIA series

The Twins added two insurance runs in the eighth. Shin Min-jae’s bunt single brought home pinch-runner Choi Won-yeong, and Park Dong-won later scored on a wild pitch. LG’s bullpen held Doosan hitless over the final three innings.

Fourth-place LG entered the Wild Card round needing only a win or tie, while fifth-place Doosan had to win two consecutive games. Wednesday’s result therefore closed the series immediately and ended the Bears’ season.

The sold-out crowd of 23,650 watched the seventh postseason series between the clubs and their final October meeting at the current Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which is scheduled to be demolished after the 2026 season.

LG now advances to a best-of-five Semiplayoff against the third-place KIA Tigers beginning Saturday, October 17. The winner will face the Samsung Lions in the Playoff.