KIA's divine intervention: 'Two-run homer plus bases-loaded blast explode!' Dramatic turnaround from the brink of dismissal "Baseball has good times and bad times, but..."

*This content was translated by AI.

What if KIA Tigers had decided to release this foreign hitter? The man who delivered a two-run homer followed by a bases-loaded blast, racking up seven RBIs, is none other than KIA's 33-year-old foreign hitter Harold Castro.

On the 26th, KIA secured a 16-11 victory over Lotte Giants in their regular-season home game at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field as part of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.

KIA had won 16-5 on the 25th when Lee Ho-yeon hit a walk-off, bases-loaded, two-out pinch-hit home run—the first in KBO history—ending the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. Adding this win to their victory on the 26th, KIA achieved a two-game winning streak. Having secured a winning series, KIA will now aim for a series sweep by starting Yang Hyeon-jong on the 27th.

With this win, KIA improved to 62 wins, 50 losses, and 2 ties, maintaining sole possession of fourth place in the league. Following their recent two-game winning streak, they remain half a game ahead of third-place LG Twins, who defeated NC Dinos on the same day.

Castro's outstanding performance shone brightly. Starting as the cleanup hitter and left fielder, he went 3-for-5 with two home runs, seven RBIs, and two runs scored.

In the bottom of the first inning, Castro struck out. However, his bat began to heat up seriously from the bottom of the third inning. With one out and a runner on second base in the third, he hit a two-run double down the left-center gap, bringing Kim Do-young home from second.

In the bottom of the fourth, Castro stepped up to the plate for his third at-bat with two outs and a runner on second. With a 1-1 count, he targeted the middle of Lotte's starting pitcher Rodriguez's third pitch with a sweeper, launching a two-run home run over the right-center field wall.

In the sixth inning, Castro led off but was retired on a groundout to the pitcher. Then, in the bottom of the seventh with one out and bases loaded, he took his fifth at-bat against opposing pitcher Lee Min-seok. With a 1-2 count, he connected with a 150 km/h fastball down the middle, sending it over the right-field wall for a bases-loaded home run. This marked the moment Castro recorded both his 14th and 15th home runs of the season in a single day.

KIA had been deeply conflicted in June over whether to replace their foreign hitter. At the time, Castro was injured, and Adellin Rodriguez (35), who joined as a replacement foreign hitter, had performed exceptionally well.

Before leaving KIA, Adellin appeared in 32 games, posting a .264 batting average (32 hits in 121 at-bats), 10 home runs, 31 RBIs, 17 runs scored, 7 walks, and 25 strikeouts. His slugging percentage was .554, on-base percentage .308, OPS (on-base plus slugging) .862, and batting average with runners in scoring position .355. Clearly, hitting 10 home runs in just 32 games was attractive. Yet, KIA's final decision was to keep Castro rather than re-sign Adellin.

At the time, the KIA organization explained, "We pursued an extension contract with Adellin, whose six-week agreement was set to expire. However, due to personal reasons on the player's part, we decided not to extend the contract." This clarified the background behind the failed re-signing of Adellin.

In hindsight, this turned out to be a divine move. Castro appeared in 41 games during the first half of the season, batting .314 (50 hits in 159 at-bats) with 34 RBIs and six home runs. In the second half, he played in 28 games, hitting .367 (44 hits in 120 at-bats) with 25 RBIs and nine home runs. Although he played fewer games in the second half, he hit more home runs than in the first half.

After the game, KIA manager Lee Beom-ho praised Castro, saying, "Castro delivered a multi-home run performance and contributed significantly to our team's victory."

Following the game, Castro shared his thoughts: "It was a tough game, but I'm glad we could finish with a win. With the remaining games being extremely important, achieving this valuable victory made it a satisfying contest. Especially since I managed to hit two home runs and drive in seven runs, it was an even more meaningful game."

Regarding his two home run moments, he explained, "Rodriguez's pitches were good, so I knew I couldn't miss any mistakes. The third pitch came up at a visible height as a sweeper, and I hit it well enough to produce a home run. Against Lee Min-seok, with one out and bases loaded, I stepped into the batter's box to try to score the running runs. By swinging aggressively to get results, that led to the bases-loaded home run."

Castro added, "My hitting touch hasn't been great in recent games. Baseball has good times and bad times, but I believe such things can happen anytime. However, since I'm part of the core lineup, I knew I couldn't let a poor streak continue. Regaining my good form was the most important thing. I think this game helped me recover my hitting touch."

Finally, he stated, "Our team is in a tough race for standings. If we focus too much on the standings, we might get anxious, so we don't worry about other teams. But our goal is to win every game, and we will approach each contest with maximum concentration. If we do that, I believe we can finish the season at the top position our team aims for."

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*This content was translated by AI.