“I was happier than my home run”. Did Lee Seung-yeop hit the jackpot? A pinch-hit equalizer that called for a turnaround → Solo-po, Park Joon-young, and Ki Yong are competing every day
Doosan won 8-3 in Gwangju against the KIA Tigers on Sunday. The win snapped the Pajuk’s six-game winning streak and secured at least fifth place. Raul Alcantara pitched six innings of three-run ball and the bullpen didn’t allow a run. Kang Seung-ho, Park Joon-young, and Yang Yang-ji pounded out 13 hits in the win, including a barrage of home runs.
The interesting part was Lee’s forgiveness. He used Park Se-hyuk’s compensation player, Park Jun-young, to lead the team to a valuable victory over KIA for the second straight day. Lee got what he wanted: decisive batting.굿모닝토토
On this day, Lee benched left-hander Kim Jae-hwan, who has been struggling with his batting, and used Park Jun-young as the No. 8 hitter. The reason was KIA starting pitcher Thomas Panoni. He failed to score a run in six innings against Jamsil on April 6, giving up just three hits and the team lost.
Lee said, “We couldn’t do anything last time, but we’ll be better the second time. We can’t lose again. Today, I took Kim Jae-hwan out of the lineup. Instead, I’m starting Park Jun-young. He did well in the previous game and picked the ball well. I’m sending him out first.”
Park’s first at-bat in the third inning was a foul fly to the catcher. But with a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning, he drew a high fastball from Pannoni over the wall for a 110-meter solo shot. Doosan capitalized on the momentum of Park’s homer, scoring two runs on Cho’s leadoff single, Jung Soo-bin’s bunt single and Yang Seok-hwan’s two-run double in the middle of the inning.
In the previous game on the 15th, Lee sent out pinch-hitter Park Jun-young in the top of the eighth inning, trailing 5-6, and he hit a solo home run to left field off Choi Ji-min. It was a dramatic tiebreaker. In the top of the ninth, Doosan scored two runs off Jung Hae-young to take an 8-6 lead.
Manager Lee Seung-yeop pumped his fist in the air as Park hit a home run for the second straight game. The joy was overwhelming as he realized that his use of Park at the right time had resulted in the winning streak. “I was happier than when I hit a home run,” Lee said the day before.
After the game, Park said, “I’m happier that I helped the team win two games in a row than that I hit a home run. In my first at-bat, I got a lot of pitches to the body, so in my second at-bat, I abandoned the outside and only aimed for the near side, and fortunately, it paid off.”
“It was my first time starting as a designated hitter in baseball, so I knew I had to help out at the plate somehow. Before the game, the manager told me to get at least two at-bats, but I only got one, so I’m disappointed.” He expressed his hunger.
Finally, he said, “I will continue to do my best within the opportunities I am given and help the team advance to fall baseball. We were able to win today thanks to the passionate support of our fans who traveled a long way. I will always be grateful to them.”