The LG Twins broke a three-game losing streak. Hong Chang-ki probably breathed a bit of a sigh of relief.
LG beat the Samsung Lions 5-3 in a home game at Jamsil Stadium on June 13, 2026, in the Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League. The game's biggest contributor to the victory was Park Hae-min.
Park Hae-min was outstanding on both offense and defense. In the first inning, he helped starting pitcher Anders Tolhurst by catching balls hit by Choi Hyung-woo and Diaz near the outfield wall, and at the plate he had two hits, drove in one run, and succeeded in two sacrifice bunts, contributing to the team's scoring.
After the game, Park Hae-min, who took part in the interview with the game's most valuable players, said, "I think the whole team wanted to break the losing streak. It was a tough game until the end, but when it was needed, Oh Ji-hwan hit a home run and we were able to end the streak quickly. I feel good."
Near the end of the interview, Park Hae-min had one last thing he wanted to say. Park Hae-min said, "I apologized to Hong Chang-ki for what happened yesterday and bought him coffee before the game."
The incident(?) Park Hae-min mentioned involving Hong Chang-ki happened during the game the previous day. After Hong Chang-ki, batting as the leadoff hitter in the first inning, struck out swinging, he uttered profanity. That moment was even captured on the broadcast feed.
In addition, cameras caught him slamming a bat down in the dugout. With the team enduring a losing streak, such behavior from a veteran player could not have been good for team morale.
Whether he felt sorry for his actions, Hong Chang-ki expressed apologies to the team. Park Hae-min said, "Chang-ki said, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making the team's atmosphere like that (bad).'''
Did Hong Chang-ki's feelings come through? The team's atmosphere improved. Was it the power of Hong Chang-ki's coffee? LG succeeded in escaping the losing streak. Park Hae-min said with a smile, "Because Chang-ki set the mood well before the game, I think we were able to win today. I hope people recognize that Chang-ki did that (brought apology coffee and changed the mood)."
On the day LG suffered a three-game losing streak, on the 12th, Hong Chang-ki batted first and went 1 for 4, and on the previous day when they broke the losing streak (the 13th), he was placed ninth in the lineup and went 1 for 2 with a walk.
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