“I’m sorry!”

KT Wiz manager Lee Kang-cheol, after a victory against the Lotte Giants on the 27th at Busan Sajik Stadium with a score of 11-8, chuckled awkwardly and said to reporters, “I’m sorry.” Before the game, manager Lee had indicated that there would be virtually no appearance by Park Young-hyun, who had given up a blown save against LG in Suwon the previous day (26th) and contributed to a 3-4 defeat.

However, after a slugfest and taking an 11-8 lead into the 9th inning, manager Lee withdrew his earlier comments and brought in Park Young-hyun. Park responded by retiring lead-off hitter Park Chan-hyung with a fly out to right field, followed by Jeung Bo-keun with another fly out to right, and Kim Dong-hyeok with a third fly out to right, achieving a perfect save.

Before the game, Park Young-hyun spent a long time in the bullpen under the blazing sun talking with coach Je Choon-mo and continued training to regain his balance. During this process, he reported to manager Lee that he had 'found something,' and the manager trusted this and put Park Young-hyun back on the mound.

Manager Lee explained the reason for bringing in Park Young-hyun by saying, “Because (the ball) has improved.” Park met expectations and wrapped up the game with three batters.

After the game, Park Young-hyun said, “These days my balance has been constantly wavering, and I've been very confused. It was severe that I couldn’t compete against hitters on the mound. But today, I worked on my bad points with the coach for about an hour and a half to two hours. I felt something today and seemed to pitch confidently on the mound.”

What part did he regain? He said, “When I pitched well, I used my lower body well, and the ball should have a sinking movement, but I didn’t have much of that this year. So I felt a lot of stress. I felt broken, and the velocity didn’t come out. I lost a lot of confidence,” and added, “Since coach Je Choon-mo has known me since my rookie days, I always trusted and followed him. I think it was good to find the improvements while communicating.”

He continued, “When I was doing well, I always checked the vertical movement metrics, but they didn’t seem to change much,” emphasizing, “However, I know best what it feels like to be good, so I tried to find the best form of 2023 and thought about that while pitching.”

Park Young-hyun's perfect save on this day was almost a month in the making. It was the first clean perfect inning with three batters since the game against KIA on May 30. Park Young-hyun said, “I don't think I'm at 100% yet, maybe about 60-70%. There have been too many bad games lately. I’ve always allowed runners on base and never cleaned up efficiently. It's been a while since I managed to handle it this cleanly,” and he emphasized, “I’ve been very anxious and lost a lot of confidence, but I'm glad I handled it cleanly today. I’ll prepare well so I can pitch better tomorrow and the day after.”

After the game, manager Lee Kang-cheol stated, “He laid the groundwork for a comeback with good pitching under a leading situation. Congratulations on your first win since military discharge, and thank you.” He added, “Overall, the batters did their jobs. They showed focus in not giving up after allowing the lead and quickly scored the equalizing run. Kim Sang-su and Kim Min-hyeok led the offense with 7 hits and 5 RBIs. In particular, Oh Yoon-seok's excellent defense played a decisive role in the victory. I appreciate the efforts of the players and thank the fans who supported us in the away game.”

On the 28th, KT will start Oh Won-seok, while Lotte is set to start Na Gyun-an.

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