sportstotomen   Album Posted Sep.3rd, 2023, viewed 166 times

Park Hae-min on 'First Finish After Moving to LG': "Everyone on the team wanted to win"

Leading LG snaps three-game losing streak with extra-inning, 10th-inning hit

Park Hae-min hits game-winning hit

LG Twins' Hae-min Park talks to the media after hitting the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning of the extra innings of the home game against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 31.

Park Hae-min (33-LG Twins) came to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning of extra innings with a strategy.

"I can't lose a game like this," he said.

The combination of strategy and desperation resulted in his first game-winning hit after moving to LG.

In the bottom of the 10th inning of a 2-2 tie against the Doosan Bears in the Korean Baseball Organization's home game at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, Park took a 141-kilometer-per-hour slider from right-handed reliever Lee Young-ha and smashed it hard into the left-field corner.

It was Park's first hit since joining LG as a free agent for four years and 6 billion won in 2022. Park has hit two game-winning hits in a Samsung Lions uniform.

Thanks to Park, LG snapped a three-game losing streak.

Speaking after the game, Park said, "I had a good record against Lee Young-ha (14-for-33, including this game, with a .424 batting average), so I came to the plate with confidence. "I had a strategy," he said. "I was psychologically pushed by the two-strike count, but Young-ha has a fast changeup, so I was prepared for the fastball. This strategy worked well."

Immediately after his at-bat, Park realized it was time to close out the game.

"I thought the runner on second base, Oh Ji-hwan, would definitely come home. I didn't even question it," he says, adding, "After I hit the ball, I immediately thought, 'I've won.

LG Twins Park Hae-min

LG dropped all three games of a three-game series against the Changwon NC Dinos last weekend. On the 26th, the team suffered a heartbreaking loss in the bottom of the ninth inning when an opposing batter's infield grounder hit the umpire's foot and became an infield hit.

Against Doosan on the 31st, LG was down 0-2 before the eighth inning began.

In the bottom of the eighth, Austin Dean's solo home run started the rally, and a squeeze bunt by Park Dong-won from first and third base tied the game at 2-2, thanks to a "mistake in judgment" by Doosan pitcher Jung Chul-won.

Park Hae-min said, "I tried to forget about it quickly, but I couldn't help but feel like I was being chased. "Austin's home run in the eighth inning revitalized the atmosphere in the dugout, and Park Dong-won also showed his desire to win by trying to bunt in a difficult situation even though he didn't think he would get a bunt sign. "Everyone wanted to win," he said of the fierce LG atmosphere.

Park Hae-min himself succeeded in laying down a sacrifice bunt in the fifth inning with runners on first and second and the Doosan infield under intense pressure, and ended the duel with a single in the 10th inning.

With the win, LG maintained its 4.5-game lead over second-place KT Wiz.

Park Hae-min said, "There's a lot of talk out there about 'LG being chased,' but in reality, we can't even afford to think about other teams. Right now, we're just preparing for tomorrow's game against the Hanwha Eagles." "We've played ¾ of the season well. We just need to do the same for the remaining ¼," he concluded.

Of course, the victory was exhilarating for Park Hae-min, who remains calm.

"We played really hard," he said. 스포츠토토맨 I hope today's match will be a good turning point for our team."