‘The Man Who Never Gives Up’ Oh Ji-Hwan Saves LG Again
LG Twins captain Oh Ji-hwan, 33, is likely to remain in the minds of baseball fans as the man who never gives up.
He has saved his team from the brink of defeat in back-to-back Korean Series (KS).
Oh hit a dramatic game-winning home run with runners on second and third base in the top of the ninth inning after trailing 5-7 against the visiting KT Wiz in the third game of the 2023 KBO KS at Katie Wiz Park in Suwon on Tuesday.
He took a 145-kilometer fastball up the middle off opposing closer Kim Jae-yoon and blasted a three-run homer over the right field fence.
Thanks to Oh’s home run, LG defeated KT 8-7 and took a 2-1 series lead.
In fact, Oh made a big mistake early in the game that nearly cost them the game.
In the bottom of the fifth inning with a 3-1 lead, he deflected KT’s Jang Jang-woo’s line drive to the shortstop.
A calm catch would have ended the inning.
Oh’s error was a big one. As the ball dropped backward, first baseman Park Byung-ho raced to second and then to third, and LG left fielder Moon Sung-joo made a bad throw, putting runners on first and second and third.
The LG mound was shaken up and gave up back-to-back singles to pinch-hitters Kim Min-hyuk and Anthony Alford to cut the deficit to 3-4.
LG’s three runs in the fifth inning started with a fielding error by Oh Ji-hwan.
Oh couldn’t keep his head up. In the top of the seventh inning, he struck out with a passive swing at a floated ball.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, LG gave up three runs, including a two-run homer to Park Byung-ho.
But LG didn’t give up. Neither did Oh Ji-hwan.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, with runners on first and second, Oh blasted a home run to complete the drama.
Oh didn’t give up in the second game of the KS series on Aug. 8, either, setting the stage for a comeback.
Trailing 1-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Oh started the comeback with a solo home run, and LG won the game 5-4 thanks to Park Dong-won’s game-winning two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth. 토토사이트