Professional baseball LG Twins catcher Park Dong-won experienced hell and heaven. After creating a crisis with a decisive error and hanging his head, Park Dong-won delivered the go-ahead winning hit and smiled.
LG won 5-2 in a comeback victory against the Kiwoom Heroes at Jamsil Stadium on the 23rd. Having been soundly defeated 0-7 the day before, LG broke free from the danger of falling into a losing streak with a comeback win.
Starting pitcher Im Chan-kyu gave up a solo home run to Im Byung-wook with two outs in the first inning. Later, in a 1-out, runners on first and third threat in the third inning, he was hit by Im Byung-wook again for an RBI single. In the continued 1-out, runners on first and third threat, the ball hit by Choi Joo-hwan rose high toward the third base side in front of the catcher. It looked like Park Dong-won would catch it, but he did not. It was a fielding error. The runner on third came home. Im Chan-kyu had a surprised expression.
But fortunately, the batted ball that landed in fair territory rolled into foul territory. It was foul because it did not touch Park Dong-won's mitt. The ball hit by Choi Joo-hwan, who narrowly escaped, was a straight hit to the first baseman and was out. First baseman Austin immediately stepped on first base for a double play, ending the inning. Park Dong-won was relieved that his mistake did not lead to a run.
In the bottom of the third, after one out, LG scored one run on Song Chan-ui's two-base hit to center-left and Hong Chang-gi's two-base hit to right. With two outs and a runner on third, Austin's single up the middle tied the game 2-2.
Riding the momentum, LG connected a 2-3 opportunity when Oh Ji-hwan hit a right-side two-base hit. Park Dong-won came to the plate. Park Dong-won hit a two-run opposite-field single that slipped between the third base gap to put them ahead 4-2.
When Park Dong-won, after Oh Ji-hwan reached on a hit to lead off the eighth, laid down a sacrifice bunt, he moved the team to one out and second base. Shin Min-jae's RBI hit became the stepping stone that pushed the lead to 5-2. LG won 5-2. Im Chan-kyu earned the win after allowing two runs over six innings.
After the game, Park Dong-won spoke about going from hell to heaven. Regarding the error in the third inning, he said, "At first I thought I could catch it, but the wind suddenly carried the ball away. After I missed it I felt sorry for Chan-kyu, but Chan-kyu pitched well and my error was erased. I am really grateful," he said.
In the following attack he made up for the error himself. Asked about the go-ahead winning hit, Park Dong-won said, "I expected a fastball. A mistake pitch came in and produced a good result. Hitting after the error relieved a lot of pressure. It was really fortunate," he said with a sigh of relief.
Park Dong-won tends to perform well with good hitting form every April and May, slump in the summer, and then regain his hitting form in the fall. But this year he hit a home run in the season opener and has been struggling since.
In 41 games he is hitting .231 (117 at-bats, 27 hits) with 2 home runs, 17 RBIs, 16 runs and an OPS of .682. He hit a home run in the season opener and hit his second of the season against SSG on the 15th.
Park Dong-won vowed, "Honestly I feel like I'm going to die. I've received a lot of help from the coaches and have prepared well, so my hitting form seems to be rising little by little, and I will work harder," he said. <
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