"Just lay down two runners, I'll handle it." Park Hae-min predicts his first career walk-off home run! A single remark from LG captain before the start of the bottom of the 9th inning sent shivers down his teammates' spines. [Jamsil On-site]

*This content was translated by AI.

"I'll handle it. Just lay down two runners."

Did he intuitively sense a walk-off home run, something he has never hit in his career? LG Twins captain Park Hae-min (36) kept his word with action, leading his team to victory.

On the 24th, LG secured a thrilling comeback victory over Kiwoom Heroes with a 6-4 score in a regular-season home game at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League. With this win, LG improved to 28 wins and 19 losses, overtaking KT Wiz (27 wins and 19 losses), which also lost on the same day, to move into second place.

The turning point of the game was undoubtedly the bottom of the 9th inning when LG trailed 3-4. Kiwoom closer Yuto Kanakubo struck out Song Chan-ui with a swing-and-miss and induced a ground ball to second base from Gu Bon-hyeok. Subsequently, a batted ball from pinch-hitter Lee Jae-won, who targeted the first pitch, rolled slowly past the second baseman and headed toward the outfield, making it seem as though LG would lose without incident.

However, the atmosphere shifted when three Kiwoom players failed to field the ball. Coincidentally, the top of LG's batting order came up again, and the runner on second base was replaced from Lee Jae-won to Kim Hyun-jong. Hong Chang-gi drew a walk and advanced to first base, and captain Park Hae-min stepped up to the plate.

On this day, Park Hae-min had gone 0-for-4 in four at-bats, showing poor hitting form. As expected, he found himself in a 1-ball-2-strike count against Yuto's fastballs and forkballs. Nevertheless, Park Hae-min fouled off three pitches and stubbornly held on until the seventh pitch, a fastball inside, when his bat connected with the air. The ball, struck squarely in the center of the bat, soared at 157.1 km/h, traveling over 117.3 meters toward the right-field stands. It was Park Hae-min's walk-off home run that put the final period on the dramatic comeback.

After the game, I heard an interesting story from Cheon Seong-ho, who was waiting behind Park Hae-min. When asked by reporters about his thoughts on a pleasant end to the week, Cheon Seong-ho unexpectedly said, "Just as the bottom of the 9th inning was starting, (Park) Hae-min hyung told us to lay down two runners. He said he would handle it and told me to hold a water bottle."

Did he really predict his own walk-off home run? To conclude, the answer is no. When I subsequently spoke with Park Hae-min, he said, "Actually, I still don't know what happened. I thought it was a home run after hitting the ball, but I only realized the situation when I saw the dugout while running. I was so disoriented that I didn't even know if I had properly touched the bases."

Regarding Cheon Seong-ho's testimony, he laughed and said, "I don't know if I said there would be two runners. What I remember is asking to be sent up to bat once. Actually, since the bottom of the 9th inning started from the seventh batter, I, who was the second batter, didn't need to prepare quickly, but I did tell the players, 'I'm getting ready, so please connect me up to my turn.'"

This was his first walk-off home run in 1,719 games and 7,037 at-bats since entering the pros as a developmental player in 2012. Until this game, he had only 60 career home runs, showing little connection with the long ball. However, against Yuto, whose fastest pitch reached 154 km/h, he eliminated the possibilities and made solid contact.

Park Hae-min explained the home run situation: "When I observed the previous batters from behind, they didn't throw any breaking balls, so I decided to hit only a fastball. Park Jun-hyun had also thrown a fastball over 150 km/h earlier, and I think hitting that pitch repeatedly helped. I stepped into the batter's box thinking I wouldn't be late on fastballs, but I swung and missed at a forkball."

He continued, "Here, I actually discarded any image of breaking balls. Since I had used fastballs so effectively in front, I thought they would only use breaking balls as a show, so I kept looking for fastballs. I thought, 'They threw so many fastballs; if the breaking balls drop well, there's nothing I can do.' Baseball is ultimately a game of probability, so by increasing the odds in that way, a good result came out. Actually, I didn't think about a walk-off home run."

Park Hae-min added with a smile, "Whether I went 0-for-4 or 0-for-5, it was the same. Also, the manager actually decided not to let (Son) Ju-young pitch in consecutive games until this week, but when Ju-young came up, I sensed he really wanted to secure this game. So I asked them to send me up to bat as well. After that, Lee Jae-won's hit turned into a lucky double, and I felt luck was on our side, so I hit with confidence."

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*This content was translated by AI.