Starter Im Chan-kyu had a solid outing and his teammates provided just enough run support, as the LG Twins defeated the Kiwoom Heroes 3-2 on Thursday in their final game before the All-Star break in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). Im, making his second start after missing nearly a month with a lower back injury, held the Heroes to a run on four hits in six innings at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. The Twins snapped their two-game losing skid and ended the Heroes' six-game winning streak. The KBO will go on a four-day All-Star break beginning Friday, with Incheon, just west of Seoul, hosting the midseason festivities. The regular season will resume next Tuesday. The Twins scored twice in the top of the first inning against starter Ha Yeong-min. After the first two batters hit a single and a double, Kim Hyun-soo plated the first run with a sacrifice fly to deep center field. Austin Dean followed up with another sacrifice fly to double the Twins' lead. After the Twins failed to score with runners at the corners in the top third, the Heroes cut the deficit in half in the bottom third. Kim Gun-hee led off the frame with a double off starter Im Chan-kyu. Jang Jae-young, a former pitcher who converted to outfielder last month due to elbow problems, brought Kim home with a single to center. Two batters later, with Jang still on first, Ronnie Dawson drove a first-pitch changeup from Im to deep right field for what could have been a game-tying double. But right fielder Hong Chang-ki tracked it down and made a leaping catch just in front of the fence to end the inning and preserve the Twins' 2-1 lead. The Twins regained their two-run lead in the very next inning, with Gu Bon-hyeok making it 3-1 with an RBI groundout to shortstop. The Heroes couldn't capitalize after putting two runners on in the bottom sixth, with cleanup Song Sung-mun and No. 5 hitter Choi Joo-hwan both unable to deliver. The Heroes once again had two runners aboard for Song in the bottom eighth. He worked an eight-pitch walk against closer You Young-chan to load the bases, but Choi could only manage an RBI fielder's choice that made it a 3-2 game. Pinch hitter Byeon Sang-kwon grounded into a force out to kill the final Heroes rally. You Young-chan got the final five outs for his 18th save of the season. The Twins scored all three runs without the benefit of a hit. Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb said scoring those two runs in the opening frame helped set the tone. "We couldn't add any more runs after the fourth inning and so we made life difficult on ourselves," Youm said. "But the players maintained their focus and took it across the finish line. Chan-kyu did his job as the starter and Young-chan closed out the victory under pressure. They deserve a lot of credit." Im was sidelined for most of June before returning on June 23, when he held the KT Wiz to a run over five innings and struck out eight. After tossing another one-run ball Thursday, Im improved to 5-3 for the season and lowered his ERA from 4.31 to 4.08. The Twins are entering the b reak in second place at 46-38-2 (wins-losses-ties). They are 3.5 games behind the Kia Tigers, who are trying to win their first Korean Series title since 2017. The Tigers beat the Samsung Lions 8-3 Thursday by scoring five runs off closer Oh Seung-hwan in the top of the ninth. This was the Tigers' third straight win, which took them to 48-33-2. The Lions entered this week with a chance to overtake the Tigers for first place, but they fell to fourth place instead at 44-39-2. The Doosan Bears, after beating the Lotte Giants 6-3 Thursday, are in third place at 46-39-2. The SSG Landers are occupying the fifth and final playoff position at 41-42-1, despite losing to the NC Dinos on a 12th-inning, two-run blast by Matt Davidson. The Dinos are in sixth place at 40-41-2, and only trail the Landers in winning percentage, .4939 to .4938. The KT Wiz saw their five-game winning streak snapped in a 13-5 loss to the Hanwha Eagles on Thursday. The Wiz are still in seventh place at 38-45-2, while the Giants are right b ehind them at 35-42-3. The Eagles are in ninth at 37-44-2, just half a game back of both the Wiz and the Giants. The Heroes, after their six-game winning streak ended Thursday, are bringing up the rear at 35-46. The All-Star break begins Friday with the home run derby, followed by the game on Saturday, both at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, just west of Seoul. The midseason break has been cut from seven days to four days for this season, as the KBO looks to crown the Korean Series champions before the end of October and help the national team, made up largely of KBO stars, prepare for the Premier12 tournament in November. The regular season will resume next Tuesday. Source: Yonhap News Agency