"I will endure until today."

KT Wiz manager Lee Kang-cheol, who is facing a sweep crisis, urged foreign hitter Mel Rojas Jr. to step up.

KT faced the KIA Tigers in an away game in Gwangju, using Emmanuel Hayzus and Sohn Hyung-jun as starting pitchers, but suffered a two-game losing streak. Rojas struggled in both offense and defense, contributing to the losing streak.

In the game on the 18th, he batted fifth and recorded 1 hit in 5 at-bats with 1 run scored, but he failed to convert two opportunities into hits and grounding into a double play. In the next day's game, he appeared as the fourth batter and ended with no hits in 4 at-bats. In the top of the 8th, trailing 3-5 with 2 outs and runners on first and second bases, he flied out to the shortstop.

Not only in batting but also in defense, he failed to properly handle batted balls, yielding doubles or allowing runners to reach second base due to errors. It was disappointing defense that led to all scoring.

Before the game against KIA on the 19th, manager Lee sighed, saying, "If we can't hit, we have to play defense well..." He added, "I was going to take him out today, but he played well against KIA's starter Olleh, going 4 for 5. He did well from the left side. Let’s just endure until today," and decided to use Rojas as the fifth batter and right fielder.

This year, Rojas has appeared in 72 games, batting .251 with 9 home runs, 31 RBIs, an OPS of .761, and a batting average of .259 with runners in scoring position. This is his lowest performance in his sixth season in the KBO League.

On that day, KT's lineup included Kim Min-hyeok (left fielder), Lee Ho-yeon (first baseman), Ahn Hyun-min (center fielder), Lee Jung-hoon (designated hitter), Rojas (right fielder), Jang Sung-woo (catcher), Heo Kyung-min (third baseman), Kwon Dong-jin (shortstop), and Kim Sang-su (second baseman).

Manager Lee noted, "Today (the military service exemption) Baeg Jong-dae is coming out. It’s a bullpen day. The hitters need to perform well for us to win," expressing his hopes for Rojas’s hitting once again.

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