Professional baseball player Park Dong-won of the LG Twins led his team to a crucial comeback home run, tying for first place.

LG secured a 4-3 comeback victory against the KIA Tigers at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 27th. With this win, LG returned to first place after 13 days. After the Hanwha Eagles lost to the SSG Landers, both teams ended up in a tie for first place with 44 wins, 31 losses, and 2 draws.

In the middle of the game, Park Dong-won hit a crucial three-run home run, changing the momentum of the match.

LG's starting pitcher Son Ju-yeong recorded a quality start with 6 innings, 4 hits allowed, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs (1 earned). In the 4th inning, Son Ju-yeong faced a crisis with no outs and runners on first and second base due to a hit by Park Chan-ho and an error in a throw to second base from Moon Bo-gyeong, allowing 2 runs after giving up a double to Choi Hyung-woo.

Trailing 0-2, LG's Austin reached base on a walk after one out in the 6th inning. Moon Sung-ju then hit a single up the middle to create a first and third base opportunity. Park Dong-won hit a three-run home run (15th of the season) over the left field wall on the first pitch changeup (127 km) from Yang Hyun-jong. With this home run, Park Dong-won became the second player this season to hit home runs against all teams, following Samsung's Diaz.

Park Dong-won's home run showed that Yang Hyun-jong's changeup strategy worked. After the game, Park Dong-won said, “He threw a lot of changeups even in my first at-bat. Coach (Mo Chang-min) advised me that he would throw a changeup.” He continued, “If I didn't trust the hitting coach, I would have probably not believed it and swung. But since the hitting coach provides good guidance, my level of trust is very high. Trusting the coach, I aimed for the first pitch changeup, and luckily, it resulted in a good outcome.”

LG allowed a game-tying solo home run to Wisdom in the 8th inning but regained the lead and won 4-3 with Moon Sung-ju's infield single with two outs and a runner on second base in the bottom of the 8th.

Park Dong-won recorded 1 hit, 2 walks, and 3 RBIs in 2 at-bats. He flied out to left field with one out on first base in the 2nd inning, walked on a 3-ball count in the 4th inning with 2 outs and runners on second and third bases, hit a three-run home run in the 6th inning, and walked in the 8th inning with 2 outs and a runner on first base.

Is my hitting feeling a bit better? I’ve hit in 5 consecutive games recently and hit 2 home runs. Park Dong-won said, “I also got a hit yesterday and felt good because I made solid contact. I thought that if I got a bit more luck, I could get more hits, and good results came out. If I can just finish the month well, I think I can do well.”

Tied for first place with Hanwha, LG rose back to first place after 13 days. The battle for the top is expected to continue until the All-Star break. Park Dong-won was surprised by the news of Hanwha's comeback loss, saying, “Did Hanwha lose? I thought they were winning earlier.”

Park Dong-won disclosed his commitment for the remaining games in the first half with manager Youm Kyoung-youb. He said, “There are not many games left until the All-Star break. The manager said on the 20th, 'Let’s just push a little harder in the remaining games of the first half because we won’t have to work out even a day during the All-Star vacation.' Because of the manager's words, the players feel more responsibility. I think everyone is working hard to create better results.”

On the 20th, when the game against Doosan was canceled due to rain, manager Youm held a meeting with the players. He declared, “We will approach the remaining 17 games combat-ready.” He promised the players a carrot for vacation during the All-Star break. Park Dong-won laughed and said, “For now, I’m wondering whether to go out for training for a day or two to prepare for the All-Star game, and I’m curious if there will be a player who gets a week off.”

When summer comes, Park Dong-won commented on the decline in performance, saying, “Honestly, if I could prepare and adjust, I would think that I could perform well all year round. I believe all players are the same. I feel a bit more behind than others, but it is natural for players to struggle, their velocity to drop, and their batting average to decrease in the summer. In some ways, this is a pitching-friendly environment, and I think doing well with a batting average of .270 is still good.”

He continued, “I don’t think I have dropped off significantly. I feel that I have run a lot in the two and a half months since the season started. That’s why it would be great to perform well the entire year, but I also think my skills might still be a bit lacking, and I believe there’s an upward trend when you go down. I am preparing hard every day.” His batting average increased to .281 with that home run.

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