"It's Diaz's day."
There couldn't be anything more thrilling. The Samsung Lions of the Korean professional baseball league staged an unscripted drama.
On the 18th, at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, they secured a 6-3 comeback victory against the Doosan Bears, thanks to a walk-off home run by foreign player Lewin Diaz in the 10th inning. With this win, Samsung defeated Doosan for two consecutive days and secured the winning series.
Diaz was the key player in the victory. After hitting a two-run homer to ignite the rally, he hit a walk-off three-run homer in the 10th inning with one out and runners on first and second, tying the game at 3-3. He collected five RBIs with two home runs.
Starting left-hander Lee Seung-hyun recorded 5 innings with 8 hits allowed, 6 strikeouts, and 3 earned runs. The bullpen's performance stood out. Hwang Dong-jae (1 inning), Kim Tae-hoon (⅔ inning), Bae Chan-seung (1 inning), Lee Ho-sung (2 innings), and Kim Jae-yoon (⅓ inning) each took the mound, combining for a shutout.
Manager Park Jin-man said after the game, "It's Diaz's day. Diaz's home run in the 6th inning changed the momentum, and the homer in the 10th was the walk-off, so I think we can say he did it all by himself," adding, "Of course, there was also Go Jae-wook's timely hit that tied the game, which made the comeback victory possible."
He also praised the bullpen that combined for a shutout. Park Jin-man evaluated, "The effort of our five bullpen pitchers—Hwang Dong-jae, Kim Tae-hoon, Bae Chan-seung, Lee Ho-sung, and Kim Jae-yoon—who kept the shutout was also the driving force behind the comeback victory."
Meanwhile, Samsung will present right-hander Yang Chang-seob as the starting pitcher on the 19th. Doosan's starting pitcher will be left-hander Jack Logue.
한편 삼성은 19일 선발 투수로 우완 양창섭을 내세운다. 두산 선발 투수는 좌완 잭 로그다.
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