Last year, Víctor Reyes (Lotte Giants), who set a new record for hits in professional baseball, is producing hits fiercely again this year, raising expectations for the birth of new records.

Reyes led the team to a dramatic comeback victory of 4-3, hitting 3 hits in 4 at-bats and 2 RBIs after starting as the third right fielder in the 8th matchup of the season against the KT Wiz in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 11th.

Reyes, who warmed up with a foul fly in the first inning, faced KT starter Emmanuel De Jesus in the 3rd inning with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 3rd base, hitting a 1-RBI go-ahead single to center field, kicking off a show of 3 hits.

After reaching base on a walk in the 5th inning, Reyes, trailing 1-3, hit a single to right field against Yong-ju in the 7th inning with 2 outs and no runners on base, achieving multi-hits in 8 consecutive games.

The highlight was the last at-bat. In the 8th inning, trailing 2-3 with 2 outs and the bases loaded, he faced KT's closer Park Young-hyun, who is leading in saves, and hit a dramatic 2-RBI go-ahead single. After establishing a favorable count of 2 balls and 1 strike, he technically connected with a change-up on the 4th pitch (129 km/h) to record the game-winning hit. He completed 3 hits in a single game for the first time in 5 games since the match against the Kiwoom Heroes on the 5th.

After the game, Reyes said, "These days, the competition for rankings is very fierce, so today’s game was extremely important, and I am glad we won," adding, "In my previous at-bat, after seeing Go Seung-min reach base on a walk, I planned to first observe the pitch. I wasn't particularly targeting the change-up, but I wanted to make any pitch that came into the zone into a playable ball and somehow connect it."

Reyes, who reset the single-season hit record in professional baseball last year and remained with Lotte for an aggregate of $1.25 million (about 1.7 billion won), is showcasing his skills as a hitting machine again this year. He has played in 67 games this season, with a batting average of .348, 96 hits, 8 home runs, 56 RBIs, and 40 runs scored, leading in hits and multi-hits (32 times), while ranking second in batting average and RBIs, dominating various hitting metrics. He has had multi-hits in 8 consecutive games, with a monthly batting average of .571 in June.

When asked about his secret, Reyes replied, "I'm in good hitting form lately, so I'm practicing harder to maintain that feeling. Every game is important right now. I want to show better performance and focus on helping the team win."

At the current pace, there are projections that he could break the record for 202 hits again. However, the main person seemed indifferent. Reyes said, "I'm not concerned about the hit record. I’m focusing on Lotte winning as much as possible, so there’s nothing special I can say."

After the game, Reyes also congratulated Na Gyun-an, who tasted his first victory of the season after 13 games. He provided the game-winning hit to Na Gyun-an, saying, "Since Na Gyun-an made his debut as a middle reliever today, I’m glad we could help him get the win. The team atmosphere is really good, so we support and cherish each other. Both Na Gyun-an and Lotte only have to keep rising from here on out."

Reyes did not forget to express gratitude to the fans who passionately cheered for Lotte, even after the game ended. He said, "Because the fans cheer for us so passionately, we can work harder at the baseball field. I hope you’ll come out often and cheer for us a lot in the future."

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