"Let's have fun." Again. Is it you again! 43-year-old Choi Hyung-woo's single remark the night before woke the sleeping lion army. [Jamsil on-site]

*This content was translated by AI.

In the end, it was Choi Hyung-woo (43, Samsung Lions) once again. The eldest brother's single remark the night before woke the lion army that had been asleep for a long time.

Samsung defeated LG Twins 13-6 in a regular-season away game held at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 25th in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.

With this, Samsung avoided a three-game sweep and maintained third place with 41 wins, 2 draws, and 30 losses. Leading LG, which had been on a five-game winning streak, saw its winning run end, falling to 47 wins and 26 losses, allowing KT Wiz (43 wins, 29 losses) in second place to close the gap to three games.

Samsung's lineup pushed relentlessly throughout the game. In the top of the 1st inning, leadoff batter Kim Ji-chan hit a single to right field, and Park Seung-kyu hit a single to left field to reach base. Koo Ja-wook hit a two-run single to right field, and Diaz hit a three-run home run over the right-field wall.

In the top of the 2nd inning, Kim Ji-chan and Park Seung-kyu reached base on consecutive walks, and with Koo Ja-wook's fly ball to right field, there was one out with runners on first and third. Choi Hyung-woo hit a two-run single to center field, and Jeon Byeong-woo drew a walk to load the bases. Ryu Ji-hyuk drew a bases-loaded walk, and Kang Min-ho hit a two-run single to center field, making the score 8-0.

Samsung added two runs in the 6th, one in the 7th, and two in the 9th, sinking LG's pitching mound. Lewin Diaz went 3-for-4 with one home run, five RBIs, one run, and one walk; Koo Ja-wook went 4-for-6 with one RBI, three runs, and one stolen base; Park Seung-kyu went 2-for-2 with two walks and three runs; Kang Min-ho went 1-for-4 with two RBIs; Ryu Ji-hyuk went 1-for-4 with three RBIs and two walks; and Kim Ji-chan went 2-for-5 with one walk, two runs, and one stolen base.

Samsung's starting pitcher Ariel Jurado, who allowed three earned runs over 6⅔ innings, secured his fourth win (one loss) of the season thanks to this performance. This result contrasts sharply with his recent outings. Before this game, Samsung had the lowest batting average in the league at 0.241 (8th in the league) in June, and its OPS (on-base plus slugging) was 0.689 (9th in the league), placing it at the bottom of the league.

What was the secret? After the game, Koo Ja-wook told reporters, "The day before (24th), (Choi) Hyung-woo hyung said, 'Even if we can't do well in June, we're 9 wins and 10 losses.' He said, 'We're not doing too badly, so let's have fun.' Thanks to those words, I think a good synergy effect occurred."

Samsung is clearly seeing the effects of bringing in 43-year-old veteran Choi Hyung-woo both on and off the field. Choi Hyung-woo signed a two-year FA contract worth up to 2.6 billion won in December last year and returned to his original team, Samsung, after nine years.

Despite concerns due to his age, Choi Hyung-woo has shown his prowess in the regular season this year with a batting average of 0.320 (78 hits in 244 at-bats) in 70 games, along with 8 home runs, 51 RBIs, and 32 runs scored. His on-base percentage is 0.428, slugging percentage is 0.475, and OPS is 0.903.

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*This content was translated by AI.