'Return to Sole Lead' Park Jin-man, Team Praised: "Everyone Maintained Focus and Gave Their Best"

*This content was translated by AI.

Park Jin-man (50), manager of the Samsung Lions, offered abundant praise to his players for their fighting spirit that secured a comeback from a two-game losing streak and reclaimed sole leadership in the league after an intense 11-inning battle.

On the 5th, Samsung defeated the LG Twins 4-3 in a thrilling come-from-behind victory at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, in an extra-inning game that extended to the 11th inning as part of the '2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League'.

Trailing 0-3, Samsung tied the score 3-3 in the bottom of the 7th inning. They then survived a critical situation in the bottom of the 9th with no outs and runners on first and third thanks to Kim Jae-yoon's outstanding pitching, which kept the scoreless. In the top of the 11th, Kang Min-ho hit a game-winning home run, followed by Sato's clean save in the bottom of the 11th, securing the win. With this victory, Samsung ended its two-game losing streak and pushed past KT Wiz to reclaim sole leadership in the league. Most importantly, starting left-handed pitcher Lee Seung-hyun effectively neutralized LG's foreign starter Tolhurst, a decisive factor in the game.

After the game, Manager Park Jin-man said, "Starting pitcher Lee Seung-hyun once again proved his strength against LG. He pitched five perfect innings and laid an excellent foundation to transition into the middle-game battle," while highly praising Lee for fulfilling his role as a starting pitcher with five scoreless innings.

He also praised the bullpen's dedication. Manager Park stated, "Jang Chan-hee prevented a scoring crisis and delivered a solid 2⅓-inning performance with scoreless pitching. Especially, our closer Kim Jae-yoon held firm in that difficult situation (no outs, runners on first and third in the 9th) and delivered his best performance. His pitching was a major force behind today's victory," giving him high praise.

Praise also continued for the veteran player who delivered the decisive hit and the foreign pitcher who secured the final out. Manager Park said, "Kang Min-ho created the most important run at the moment the team needed it most, proving why he is a veteran and revealing his true value." He further expressed deep trust in Sato, who took the mound in the bottom of the 11th to protect the lead, saying, "Sato earned a save with excellent pitching. It seems he has now fully adapted to the KBO League."

Finally, Manager Park Jin-man concluded, "Thanks to our players maintaining their focus until the end and giving their all, we were able to secure this precious victory," attributing the win to the entire team.

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*This content was translated by AI.