The LG Twins in the Korea Baseball Organization released their two pitchers facing match-fixing allegations and asked the league to hand out lifetime bans if the players are criminally punished.

The Seoul-based Twins announced that pitchers Kim Seong-hyun and Park Hyun-jun are no longer on the team. They are being investigated for allegedly taking kickbacks from a gambling broker last season to issue first-inning walks on purpose.

Kim was recently taken into custody, while Park has been questioned by prosecutors in Daegu, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, without physical detention.

The Twins’ decision comes one day after the KBO suspended the two players indefinitely. The club also said it will ask the league to ban Kim and Park for life if they receive criminal penalties.

“We offer our sincere apologies to our fans for causing such major disappointment and trouble,” the Twins said in a statement. “We have made this decision before any judicial decision, but we believe players who’ve betrayed fans’ trust should no longer take the ground.”

In 2011, Park won 13 games to lead all LG pitchers. He issued 68 walks in 162 2/3 innings, 13 of them coming in first innings.

Park was 13-10 with a 4.18 ERA and 137 strikeouts in his first season as a starter.

Kim, who joined the Twins in a midseason trade from the Nexen Heroes, pitched 117 2/3 innings last year and gave up 67 walks, 15 of which were issued in opening frames. (Yonhap News)