1-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs. He only had one hit, but it came at a crucial time. Samsung Lions infielder Oh Jae-il sent the home fans into a frenzy with a game-winning RBI single.토토사이트
Samsung snapped a two-game losing streak with a 6-5 victory over the LG Twins in the 13th game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Friday. The season record is 42 wins, 1 draw, and 58 losses.
Won Tae-in laid the foundation for the victory with six innings of two-run ball, and the bats responded with four runs in the bottom of the sixth. The bullpen kept the game close with scoreless innings in the top of the seventh and eighth, but Samsung needed more.
That’s where the ‘veteran’ Oh Jae-il came in. In the bottom of the eighth, three walks loaded the bases with one out, and Oh hit a five-pitch fastball to right field on a 3-1 pitch count against Choi Dong-hwan. The ball deflected off first baseman Austin Dean’s mitt and rolled into the outfield, bringing home third baseman Kang Min-ho and second baseman Ryu Ji-hyuk.
There are no guarantees in baseball, but if the inning had ended with no runs scored, Samsung would not have been able to snap the losing streak. In the top of the ninth, reliever Oh Seung-hwan gave up two runs to cut the deficit to one, and Samsung was able to hold on for the win.
After the game, Oh said, “I hit it with the idea of hitting a fly ball because I needed to score at least one run, but I think it was a hit because the course was good,” adding, “I didn’t even look at it (Austin’s hit), I was so busy running. I was just thinking, ‘I have to run fast, I have to survive somehow,'” he said.
No one was happier about Oh’s hit than starter Won Tae-in, who needed the win. “He was so frustrated that he didn’t have a win, so I kept telling him, ‘If you throw well, that’s all you need,'” Oh laughed.
“I didn’t capitalize on my chances twice before, so I really wanted to take care of it this time, and it felt good to get a hit,” he smiled. It had been 48 days since Oh had a hit against the Sajik Lotte Giants on June 28.
“I’m practicing hard, but there are still more than 40 games left, so I’m thinking about hitting every day for the rest of the season,” Oh said. “I’m thinking, ‘This season has been a bad season for me,’ and I’m preparing myself to be able to make my swing at the plate while continuing to practice.”
On the plus side, Oh is consistently getting one or two hits a game, and in the last six games alone, he’s had a hit in five of them except for the game against SSG on Dec. 12. He’s also making up for the fact that he had to sit out for a month due to a hamstring injury. Oh said, “I cleared my mind as much as possible. It’s still hard, but I feel better than in the beginning. The hits seem to be coming one by one,” he said.
In conclusion, Oh said, “The season is not over yet, whether it’s a team or an individual. It’s more important to try to win at least one more game until the last game than whether or not we advance to fall baseball, so I think it’s the players’ job to try their best to win for the fans.”