Kim Min-soo steals the game-winning hit with a ‘superman catch’ at Lotte
Infielder Kim Min-soo, 26, was the unsung hero of the LG Twins’ 11-inning victory over the Doosan Bears in the Jamsil Rivalry Series.
Kim, who switched to LG from the Lotte Giants in a trade for Kim Min-sung before the season, started the season in the second team, unable to break through the thick LG infield.
Kim, who was only promoted to the first team on the 30th of last month, took the field in the bottom of the eighth inning against Doosan at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 1st.
It was his second appearance with the first team this season.
LG entered the bottom of the ninth inning down 4-5, with two outs, when Austin Dean hit a tying home run with two outs.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Kim Min-soo made a diving catch of Jung Soo-bin’s hard-hit grounder down the third-base line, then threw to first base for the final out.
If he hadn’t made the play, the runner from second base would have scored and the game would have ended.
Kim Min-soo’s grounder was slightly deflected, but LG’s first baseman Austin made the safe catch.
In the end, LG won the game 8-5 thanks to Moon Sung-joo’s game-winning RBI single in the 11th inning and Kim Min-soo’s two-run shot.
“Our closer (Yoo Young-chan) was up, and it could have been the game-winning run, so I tried my best, and I tried to keep (the ball) out of the back, and it worked out well,” Kim explained after the game.
“It was a strong hit, but (Chung) Su-bin is a fast hitter, so I thought of a throw first. I thought about a one-bound pitch, but it went a little bit wrong. Austin 카지노 caught it well, so the result was good,” he said.
Kim Min-soo, who was promoted to the first team on March 30 due to an injury to Oh Ji-hwan, will be the backup infielder in the LG infield for the time being.
Kim Min-soo is a player who can play every position in the infield.
LG is a team that often uses a bases-loaded offense, so there are plenty of opportunities for him to play defense late in games.
First, Kim earned the coaching staff’s attention with a diving catch.
“I’ve played (defense) here and there in baseball. There’s no pressure or anything like that,” he explained.
Austin, who hit his 11th and 12th arches of the season, including a tiebreaking home run in the ninth inning, showed his presence not only on offense but also on defense.
“He made a really good catch, and then all I had to do was make a perfect one-bound throw, and when I saw that (miss), I was like, ‘We’re in trouble,’ but he made a really good play and we were able to get the out,” Austin recalled.
“The pitch itself was very good, so I was able to catch it better than I thought. It wasn’t a difficult play,” he added.