The professional baseball team Samsung Lions has risen to fourth place with a seven-game winning streak.
Samsung secured a 6-4 comeback victory against LG at the Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 1st. Kim Tae-hoon, last year’s Futures League batting champion, hit a two-run homer as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning.
Samsung, which recorded a seven-game winning streak for the first time in 10 years since winning seven straight from May 29 to June 5, 2015, against LG and NC at Jamsil and Masan, respectively, rose to fourth place by pulling down KT, which lost to KIA on that day.
In the first inning, Samsung created a scoring opportunity with leadoff hitter Kim Ji-chan's infield single to shortstop and Kim Young-woon’s walk, putting runners on first and second with no outs. With one out and runners on first and third, Diaz drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly to center field.
In the bottom of the second inning, tied 1-1, left fielder Gu Ja-wook made a spectacular catch to prevent a comeback threat. With two outs and runners on second and third, Park Hae-min's batted ball was caught just in time by left fielder Gu Ja-wook, who ran back and jumped to make the catch.
In the third inning, after one out, Park Seung-kyu reached base with a single to left field, advancing to third on a throwing error by the pitcher. Diaz hit a single to center field to put Samsung ahead 2-1. A single to right by Kang Min-ho continued the scoring opportunity with one out and runners on first and third, and Ryu Ji-hyeok added to the lead with a two-run single to center field, making it 3-1.
Starting pitcher Reyes faced a major threat in the third inning when he allowed the leadoff hitter to reach after a throwing error by the third baseman, resulting in a bases-loaded situation with no outs. Although he managed to get two outs, he allowed Moon Sung-ju to hit a two-run double that tied the game.
Trailing 3-4 in the eighth inning with two outs, Samsung created a dramatic moment. Yang Do-geun reached base with a single to center field. Left-handed batter Kim Tae-hoon came in to pinch-hit for Lee Jae-hyun. Kim Tae-hoon hit a two-run homer over the right field fence on Park Myeong-geun's second changeup (133.3 km/h) on the first pitch he saw, marking his third career home run after 1,450 days since his time with KT in 2021.
Samsung turned the game around, leading 5-4, and pitcher Kim Tae-hoon took the mound in the eighth inning, striking out Kim Hyun-soo, Austin, and Moon Bo-gyeong consecutively to end the inning. In the top of the ninth, with one out and runners on first and second, Gu Ja-wook hit an RBI double to extend the lead, and closer Lee Ho-sung finished the game with a three-up, three-down ninth.
After the game, manager Park Jin-man said, "Despite the challenges due to defensive errors early in the game, Reyes did a calm job as a starting pitcher. The relief pitchers, including Hwang Dong-jae, Lee Seung-min, and Im Chang-min, managed not to give up additional runs, which ultimately laid the groundwork for our comeback. Kim Tae-hoon and Lee Ho-sung were exceptional with their pitching, no doubt."
Manager Park noted, "Given that Kim Tae-hoon is a left-handed batter with strengths against fast balls, I expected a big hit from him and brought him in as a pinch hitter, and he delivered the best result. It seems that Kim Tae-hoon was able to give many away fans a great gift."
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