LG Twins infielder Oh Ji-hwan, who led the team to a unified championship for the first time in 29 years, led the team to a landslide victory with three hits and two RBIs. Oh, who started to increase his batting average again with a monthly batting average of 0.316 (6 hits in 19 at-bats) in September, is confident that he will be able to show a great turnaround in the postseason with his seniors.메이저사이트
Oh Ji-hwan started as the fifth batter shortstop against the Hanwha Eagles in Jamsil on September 7 and contributed to his team’s 9-3 victory with three hits, two RBIs and one run from five times at bat.
Oh Ji-hwan, who got off to a good start with an infield hit at his first at-bat in the bottom of the second inning, entered the second at-bat as a leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fourth inning and hit a triple on the right-field line against the changed pitcher Lee Min-woo, creating a chance to score. Oh Ji-hwan also scored a 2-0 run when the follow-up hitter Park Dong-won grounded out to the shortstop.
The most decisive moment came in the bottom of the fifth inning. Oh took the batter’s box for the third time in the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs and a full base on the ground, with his team leading 2-1. Oh hit the changed pitcher Kim Seo-hyun’s fastball of 152 km/h, and clearly dampened the rival team’s spirits by hitting a timely two-run homer to the right.
LG had a 9-3 victory over starting pitcher Ence’s successful start to the game with 97 pitches, one hit, three strikeouts, two strikeouts, two walks and one run, and destroyed the Hanwha mound with 15 hits, five walks and nine points. With the victory, LG maintained its third place in the league with 67 wins, two draws and 60 losses this season. The gap between the second-ranked Samsung Lions and the latter, who lost on the same day, has been reduced to four games.
Oh Ji-hwan, who met with reporters after the game, said, “During the team meeting yesterday, we promised each other to do our best and have a fun game in the rest of the game. I thought I should do well this weekend because my performance was not good during the week, but I’m glad to win,” and added, “When I was at bat in the bottom of the fifth inning, the opposing pitcher’s ball was good recently, but I was confident in my fastball. I turned it to the timing of the fastball more confidently because it was two balls with the bases loaded.”
Oh Ji-hwan was also very disappointed that he often showed disappointing errors or error-prone plays in defense in recent years.
Oh Ji-hwan said, “In a way, it’s all because of me. I made an unnecessary mistake and gave up two or three points, which should have been blocked by one point, and that greatly affected the outcome of the game. So I felt more responsible and defended myself today. Of course, I have no regrets because I played my best, but I was disappointed in the outcome of the team’s defeat.”
Oh Ji-hwan stressed that the team has been able to withstand it so far because it is with Kim Hyun-soo and Park Hae-min. “Recently, starting with me, (Park) Hae-min, and (Kim) Hyun-soo are criticized a lot, but aside from that, I think the team will endure until now because of the older brothers. It is also important for the replacements to show that level of performance, and to play a lot without getting sick in the long-term race. Basically, baseball is a sport in which you can win even if you are not good at bat. I still respect the older brothers as the winning team because the scope of defense is important,” Oh said.
LG is solidifying its ranking to third in the league. If the team starts with the semi-playoff, it will have to play much more short-term games compared to last year when it advanced directly to the Korean Series. Oh said, “As we have experienced post-season games for six consecutive years, I believe our team will be able to display more power in short-term games.
“Nothing went as planned, not only on the mound but also on the defense all season,” Oh said. “However, short-term games certainly have advantages for our team. Since we have experienced it a lot, I think making bold attempts on a big stage can put a lot of pressure on the opponent team. We need to find a positive side to the current situation. This time, he jokingly told his coach that he would win the MVP title with six homers and 18 RBIs (laughs). He has a certain outline (of his ranking), but what is meaningful is that he will go to the post season. Only after the short-term games are over will the final ranking be announced. “I think it will be okay for you to judge after all the games are over.”