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By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- The LG Twins got the better of their Seoul rivals Doosan Bears 6-1 on Wednesday for their second straight victory in South Korean baseball, riding a pair of home runs and a strong outing by a veteran pitcher.

Starter Im Chan-kyu struck out his season-high five batters over six innings of one-run ball, while backup outfielder Lee Jae-won launched his first home run of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season.

Designated hitter Song Chan-eui added a solo shot before a sellout crowd of 23,750 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, as the Twins improved to 21-11-0 (wins-losses-ties). They have won four of their first five games this month.

Lee Jae-won of the LG Twins (R) hits a two-run home run against the Doosan Bears during the clubs' Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on May 6, 2026, in this photo provided by the Twins. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Park Chan-ho's solo home run in the fifth was the only offense for the Bears, who dropped to 14-18-1.

The Bears dodged a big bullet in the bottom first, when starter Choi Seung-yong escaped a no-out, bases-loaded jam unscathed.

Choi loaded the bases on a walk and two infield singles, the second of which went off his body. The left-hander then struck out the next two batters, before getting the third out on a fortuitous bounce.

Park Hae-min hit a hard comebacker that caromed off Choi's foot and rolled toward third baseman An Jae-seok. An made a desperate diving grab to his right and deftly touched the third base bag for the final out.

Choi wasn't so lucky in the bottom second, though.

After Gu Bon-hyeok drew a four-pitch walk, No. 9 hitter Lee Jae-won smoked a two-run shot to almost dead center, winning an 11-pitch battle against Choi with his first homer of the year.

The rocket of a home run left Lee's bat at 184.2 kilometers per hour at only 20.1 degrees of launch angle.

Lee had been 1-for-16 for the season before Wednesday. He completed his mandatory military service between the 2024 and 2025 seasons and his last KBO homer before Wednesday had come on Oct. 14, 2023.

LG Twins starter Im Chan-kyu pitches against the Doosan Bears during the clubs' Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on May 6, 2026, in this photo provided by the Twins. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

The Twins extended their lead in the bottom third thanks to some small ball. With runners at the corners following a double, a sacrifice bunt and a walk, Gu Bon-hyeok bunted the ball into no-man's land on the first base side to drive in a run and get himself an infield single.

Hong Chang-ki followed up with a more conventional single through the hole on the right for a 4-0 Twins lead. The hit knocked Choi out of the game.

The Twins' lead grew to 5-0 in the bottom fourth thanks to Song Chan-eui's solo home run off new pitcher Ichiro Tamura.

Choi's counterpart, Im Chan-kyu, put up zeroes for the first four innings, while scattering five hits and striking out five batters. But with one out in the top fifth, Park Chan-ho tattooed a 2-0 fastball from Im and put it into the seats in left for a solo shot, cutting the Twins' lead to 5-1.

But the Bears couldn't get anything more off Im, who retired his final five batters before handing the reins over to the bullpen to begin the seventh.

Yi Jung-yong, Woo Kang-hoon and Kim Yun-sik each tossed a scoreless inning to make a winner out of Im, who made 89 pitches -- with 31 four-seam fastballs, 28 curveballs, 26 changeups and four sliders.

The Twins tacked on a run in the bottom eighth with Park Hae-min's sacrifice fly.

This was Im's first quality start -- an outing in which a starter goes at least six innings and allows no more than three earned runs -- of this season and also his first outing in which he didn't walk a batter.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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