Park Byung-ho of the Samsung Lions has exploded a grand slam for the first time in a year and led his team’s winning series three consecutive weekends. He ended the week in a good mood by boosting his batting sense, which has recently slowed down.
In Game 14 between the teams of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League and the Lotte Giants held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Saturday, Park started the game as sixth batter and first baseman, and recorded two hits, one homer, six RBIs and one run from four times at bat. He led the winning series of three consecutive games during the weekend.
Park Byung-ho’s bat was on fire from his first at-bat on the day. Samsung hit a home run off Lotte starter Kim Jin-wook with two outs and a bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the first inning when the score was 0-0.
Park Byung-ho also overcame the disadvantageous count of no-ball to strike. He pulled Kim Jin-wook’s 131-km slider at the third pitch, sending a 120-meter-long ball over the left fence. He did not miss the ball that went through the high course in the middle of the strike zone.
Park Byung-ho restarted his home run 10 days after hitting his 13th home run of the season against KT Wiz on the 15th. It is the first time in 438 days that he hit a grand slam in a KBO league regular season game since the game against Incheon SSG Landers on June 14, 2023, when he was a member of KT Wiz.
Park continued to display stellar performance. Samsung had a chance to score extra points with two outs in the bottom of the second inning when its team was leading 5-0, and hit a double that clearly separated the right-center field. Samsung called both runners home, making the score 7-0.
Samsung was able to easily solve the game as Park Byung-ho swept six RBIs alone. On the 24th, he avenged his loss of 3-11, and got his hands on the Winning Series.
“Although the count of the grand slam in the bottom of the first inning was unfavorable, I was lucky to have a base hit,” Park said in an interview with an official instructor after the game. “When I first became a no-ball-to-strike, I was like, ‘Oh no,'” Park said. “I think it was a relief rather than a good one. It was meaningful that the team started the game with a lot of points.”
There is a reason why Park used the expression “Thank God.” In the previous day’s game, he entered the batter’s box with two outs and a full base chance in the bottom of the first inning, but the result was a ground ball to the third base. As Samsung lost, Park felt heavy as the center hitter.
The one who was more pleased with Park’s grand slam was Kang Min-ho, the mastermind of the Samsung family. Kang was out with the bases loaded with one outs in the bottom of the first inning, and managed to overcome his disappointment. Since he was struck out by Lotte starter Chung Hyeon-su with one out in the bottom of the first inning, both Park and Kang had to recall the afterimage of the previous day’s game.
“After hitting the bases-loaded homer, I felt somewhat relieved. Kang Min-ho came up to me and thanked me,” Park said. “Since Min-ho and I failed to take advantage of the bases-loaded opportunity even in the previous game, we thanked each other after the bases-loaded homer in the bottom of the first inning. I think that was inevitable.”
Park moved from the KT Wiz to the Samsung Lions through a trade on May 28. He has a batting average of 0.240 (40 hits in 167 times at bat) with 11 homers and 35 RBIs in 55 games. Although not as much as he did in his heyday, he is still bolstering the Lions’ batting lineup based on his slugging capability, one of the best in the league. 먹튀검증
Samsung’s recent foreign hitter Lewin Diaz made his debut on the Korean stage on the 17th and made a successful start with a batting average of 0.333 (9 hits in 27 at-bats) and three home runs and seven RBIs until the game on the 25th. If synergy grows with domestic hitters such as Koo Ja-wook, Kang Min-ho and Park Byung-ho, it is worth seeking not only the second place Mercury but also the recapture of the first place.
Currently, Samsung has 66 wins, 54 losses and two draws in this season, and is chasing the leading Kia Tigers (71 wins, 48 losses and two draws) by 5.5 games. As Samsung still has four showdowns with Kia until the end of the pennant race, it is not in a stage to give up its race to become the leader.
“The current ranking battle is very tight. If our team loses, it will be very dangerous,” Park said. “If we play three consecutive games, I think it will be helpful to play with the mindset that we will win the winning series rather than trying to win all the remaining games.”
He added, “I don’t check the rankings every day or anything. I just do my best to win every day.”
