"My heart felt completely relieved." A bases-loaded home run that lifted his spirits! Lotte's Go Seung-min's explosive six-RBI performance erased the nightmare of "yesterday's bases-loaded homer and comeback loss" [Busan]

*This content was translated by AI.

Go Seung-min (26) of the Lotte Giants, who delivered decisive performances in every scoring situation including a bases-loaded home run, smiled broadly for the first time in a while.

Go Seung-min started at second base and batted seventh in Lotte's home game against the LG Twins in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season held at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium on the 28th. He went 3-for-4 with one home run, six RBIs, one walk, and two runs scored, leading Lotte to an 11-9 victory.

With this win, Lotte secured a winning series with a record of two wins and one loss. Their overall record stands at 33 wins, two ties, and 41 losses, maintaining a two-game lead over the seventh-place NC Dinos (35 wins, one tie, 39 losses), who also won on the same day. LG, with a record of 48 wins and 29 losses, now trails the second-place Samsung Lions (44 wins, two ties, 30 losses) by 2.5 games.

This performance perfectly erased Lotte's struggles in June. Before this game, Go Seung-min had batted .182 (16 hits in 88 at-bats) with an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.516 across 23 games in June, showing a significant slump in his hitting.

Today was different. Go Seung-min hit a ball toward left field in his first at-bat of the second inning, then in the bottom of the third with two outs and bases loaded, he hit a bases-loaded home run over the right-field fence. It was his fifth home run of the season, traveling 120 meters. After watching Kim Yun-sik's fastball, slider, and another fastball, he hit a curveball that dropped in the middle of the plate and sent it over the right-field wall.

The hot bat continued. In the bottom of the fourth inning with two outs and bases loaded, Go Seung-min crushed a 147 km/h fastball from reliever Kim Jin-soo, resulting in a two-run single down the right-field line. This was the decisive hit that gave Lotte an 8-2 lead, extending their advantage to six runs.

The next at-bat also yielded results that raised expectations for July. In the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs, Go Seung-min drew a walk after a full-count battle against LG's closer Kim Jin-seong, who threw both a fastball and a forkball. Subsequent walks by Park Seung-wook and a two-run double to left-center by Son Seong-bin allowed Go to score as well.

No LG pitcher could handle Go Seung-min. In the bottom of the eighth inning with one out and a runner on first base, his final at-bat of the game, Go hit a single to left field off Yu Kang-hoon. This hit raised his season batting average from 0.272 to 0.282.

After the game, Go Seung-min told reporters, "Actually, I've been going through a lot of mental stress lately. But today's revival is thanks to the manager, hitting coach Lee Byung-gyu, and coach Jung Kyung-bae, who came out early every day to conduct batting practice."

He continued, "The manager also encouraged me today, saying, 'It's happy to be able to play in the game. Don't stress, just trust yourself and swing.' Thanks to that, I was able to approach the game with a clear mind." He expressed gratitude to manager Kim Tae-hyung.

This was Go Seung-min's second career bases-loaded home run, the first since June 25, 2024, against the Busan KIA Tigers. He recalled, "Honestly, I didn't feel good about it, but I'm glad I didn't miss the opponent's mistake. Kim Yun-sik usually throws a lot of curveballs, and I had memories of being hit by them, so I was expecting a curveball. A fastball came in the count before the home run, and I timed it for a fastball, so I got lucky and connected."

He added, "When I hit it, it felt like I had just stepped out of a hot sauna into an ice room. It truly felt like my heart was completely relieved. I was so sorry for not being able to do it before, but I'm glad I could help the team win today," he said with a broad smile.

The home run was especially meaningful as it avenged the nightmare loss from the previous day (the 27th). Lotte had been leading 5-2 but lost 8-7 in a comeback defeat due to consecutive defensive errors and poor relief pitching. The decisive blow came when they allowed Austin to hit a bases-loaded home run in the eighth inning.

Go Seung-min said, "I'm happiest that the team won. It was a tough game, but I'm happiest that I could smile like this. We often lose games because of small mistakes. Yesterday was no different. The players talked a lot about what went wrong. Fortunately, that didn't happen today."

He continued, "Today, (Son) Seong-bin played really well. I hope Seong-bin continues to perform steadily like this in the future. Also, since this three-game series against LG has been tough for everyone, I hope all the players rest well and prepare well."

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*This content was translated by AI.