The SSG Landers of the Korea Professional Baseball secured a dramatic walk-off victory against the LG Twins in the bottom of the 9th.
The 8th match of the season between the LG Twins and SSG Landers took place at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 24th. The two teams exchanged leads back and forth.
LG scored the first run with a timely hit by Moon Bo-gyeong to left field with two outs and runners on first and second in the top of the 3rd inning. SSG turned the game around, making it 2-1 with a one-RBI double by Choi Jeong and a timely hit by Han Yoo-seom in the bottom of the 3rd.
After LG regained the lead 3-2 with a two-run home run by Austin in the top of the 5th, SSG tied the game 3-3 with a solo home run by Choi Jeong in the bottom of the inning.
In the bottom of the 6th, SSG took the lead with a solo home run by Go Myung-jun. LG had a leadoff batter reach base due to a fielding error by shortstop Park Seong-han in the top of the 8th, and tied the game 4-4 with a timely hit by Park Hae-min with one out and runners on first and second.
In the bottom of the 9th, after one out, Park Seong-han reached base with a double that went past first base. LG walked Choi Jeong intentionally to fill first base and faced off with Han Yoo-seom.
The ball hit by Han Yoo-seom soared high toward the left fence. It seemed that Kim Hyun-soo caught it in front of the fence, but at the moment of the catch, the ball hit his glove and fell to the ground. The runner from second base quickly rounded third to score the game-winning run. Many people expected a fly out, but the game ended somewhat unexpectedly.
It was recorded as a game-winning hit by Han Yoo-seom, not an error by Kim Hyun-soo. It was difficult to determine whether the ball fell after entering Kim Hyun-soo's glove and hitting the fence. Lee Dong-hyun, the SportyV commentator, noted, “Kim Hyun-soo tried to catch the ball, but it had more power than he expected, and as the ball slipped out, it was difficult to catch.”
After hitting the game-winning hit, Han Yoo-seom said, “I thought it was a home run. I really thought it was going over. If I thought it wouldn’t go over, I would have sprinted all the way after hitting it. But I thought it was a home run, so I jumped up and down while watching the ball,” he said with a smile.
Han Yoo-seom recalled the moment of the game-winning hit, saying, “At first, I was watching as Hyun-soo’s glove was going in and I was like wow, but then it hit and fell. I thought to myself, okay, it’s done. I think I breathed a sigh of relief thinking, it’s over.”
When the official scorer gave it as a hit rather than an error, Han Yoo-seom said, “It should be a hit. Thank you for giving me a hit. But really, that one should be a hit. Every single one is so precious...” he said with a smile.
After the game, manager Lee Soong-yong praised, "Today, we were able to win thanks to the strength of the main batting order and the performance of the bullpen. (Choi) Jeong, (Han) Yoo-seom, and (Go) Myung-jun had 6 hits, 5 RBIs, and 2 home runs in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th batting order. The main batting order solved today's game."
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