The home run king of the Samsung Lions, Kang Min-ho, suddenly got into a dispute with the first base umpire. Guessing, it may have been due to a check swing.

Samsung lost 1-3 in a matchup against the Lotte Giants on the 20th at Busan's Sajik Stadium. As a result, Samsung fell into a two-game losing streak, dropping to 5th place. The gap with Lotte widened to 2.5 games. The season record is 38 wins, 34 losses, 1 tie.

On this day, the Samsung batting lineup was overwhelmed by Lotte starter Gamboa. They did not miss opportunities against Gamboa, but they continued to fail to capitalize on them. After giving up a 2-run double to Jeung Bo-keun in the 2nd inning, they could not produce any scoring chances.

Fortunately, in the 7th inning, lead-off hitter Park Byung-ho hit a left-field solo home run, narrowing the score to 1-2. It was now a close game. Given that Lotte's key bullpen arms were having issues after three consecutive games, Samsung's offense had the potential to exploit this. However, following Park Byung-ho's solo home run in the top of the 7th, a baserunning out doused their momentum, and they failed to score in the top of the 8th as well.

It was now the bottom of the 8th inning. On the mound was Kim Jae-yoon. Lead-off hitter Jeon Jun-woo was handled with a ground ball to the shortstop. Then, a situation arose that was deemed to be the source of the problem. In the 8th inning, with one out and no runners on, Jung Hoon was at bat. After one strike, a 146 km/h fastball came inside to Jung Hoon on the second pitch. It was not a strike, and Jung Hoon barely stopped his swing. Catcher Kang Min-ho asked first base whether it was a check swing. First base umpire Cha Jeong-goo did not make an immediate call but hesitated before ruling it a no swing. Kang Min-ho looked at the first base umpire for a moment. There was a look of displeasure on his face.

Still, the battle continued. The issue was the result. From a count of 1 ball and 1 strike, it went to a full count, and on the 6th pitch, a 145 km/h fastball thrown to Jung Hoon resulted in a left-field solo home run. In terms of the game's momentum, it was a critical blow. The score widened to 1-3.

Still, Kang Min-ho continued the game. He struck out Kim Min-sung with a swinging strikeout. At that moment, Kang Min-ho suddenly approached the first base umpire and raised his voice. First base umpire Cha Jeong-goo also approached Kang Min-ho, leading to an argument. Circumstantially, it appeared that Kang Min-ho was expressing his dissatisfaction regarding the check swing ruling when Jung Hoon was at bat.

Samsung players and coaching staff, along with manager Park Jin-man, came out to calm Kang Min-ho, and manager Park Jin-man spoke with the umpires. The situation did not escalate any further, and the game proceeded as is.

In the end, Samsung was unable to turn the tide. Kang Min-ho, in a tense situation, could not react sensitively to the check swing ruling, and it seems that accumulated frustrations were expressed.

[OSEN]