SEOUL, South Korea (Interstat) — In a tightly contested pitchers’ duel that defied pregame expectations, the LG Twins edged the Kia Tigers 2-1 on Thursday evening at a chilly Jamsil Stadium, securing a series split in their four-game set.

A crowd of 23,750 watched as the Twins, leveraging a pivotal fourth-inning rally and a dominant performance from starter Casey Wells, improved to 2-3 on the young Korea Baseball Organization season. The Tigers, meanwhile, saw their early lead evaporate and fell to 1-4 despite outhitting the home team seven to five.

The game’s decisive sequence unfolded in the bottom of the fourth inning, transforming a 1-1 tie into the final margin. With Kia starter Kim Tae-hyeong beginning to labor, LG’s Park Dong-won worked a leadoff walk. Moon Sung-ju followed with a sharp single to right, putting runners on first and second. After a walk to Cheon Seong-ho loaded the bases with one out, Kim induced a ground ball from Gu Bon-hyeok. The Tigers turned a force at second, but it was enough to plate Park Dong-won from third, giving LG a 2-1 advantage it would not relinquish.

That lone, manufactured run stood as the game-winner, capping LG’s scoring after they had earlier answered Kia’s initial tally. The Tigers struck first in the second inning against Wells. Jarryd Dale singled and advanced to second on a groundout. Park Min then drove him home with a single to center field, with Park advancing to second on a throwing error by catcher Park Dong-won.

LG responded immediately in their half of the second. Moon Bo-gyeong singled and Park Dong-won walked, setting the stage for Cheon Seong-ho, who delivered an RBI single to right field, scoring Moon Bo-gyeong to knot the game at 1-1.

From there, the contest evolved into a battle of bullpens, with LG’s relievers proving impenetrable. After Wells departed following six solid innings of work, allowing one earned run on seven hits with two strikeouts, the Twins’ relief corps slammed the door. You Young-chan, Jang Hyun-sik and Woo Kang-hoon combined for three perfect innings, retiring all nine batters they faced and striking out two to seal the victory. Wells earned the win.

Kia’s Kim Tae-hyeong was the hard-luck loser, charged with both LG runs over five innings. He surrendered three hits, walked two and struck out four. The Tigers’ bullpen of Sung Yeong-tak, Jeon Sang-hyun and Jung Hai-young provided three scoreless innings of relief, but the Kia offense could muster no further response.

The game was a stark contrast to the offensive explosions that characterized the first three meetings of the series and confounded betting markets. Pregame projections from Interstat forecasted a 4-3 LG victory and gave the Twins a 64.7% probability to win, though Kia had been installed as a 1.5-run favorite. The total runs scored, a mere three, fell dramatically under the over/under line of 10.0.

For LG, Wells was the cornerstone, effectively scattering hits and working out of a key jam in the fourth inning to keep the game tied before his offense provided the lead. Cheon Seong-ho contributed two key plate appearances, going 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. Kia’s Park Min led his team with two hits and the lone RBI.

The result halts a brief positive trend for Kia, which had won 7-2 on Tuesday before dropping the last two games of the series. LG, the defending champions, even their series record with Kia at two games apiece and hope the narrow win provides momentum as they head on the road.

The Tigers will look to rebound Friday as they return home to Gwangju to open a three-game series against the NC Dinos. The Twins travel to Gocheok Sky Dome to begin a three-game set against the Kiwoom Heroes.