Victor Reyes of the Lotte Giants of the KBO completed a dramatic comeback with a walk-off home run. Reyes reaffirmed his status as the God of the Clutch.
Lotte Giants won the final game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League regular season against the Doosan Bears 6-2 in 10 extra innings on Sunday at Munsu Stadium in Ulsan, South Korea. With the victory, Lotte secured its first winning series in July, following a victory the day before.
Lotte had a rough start. They were stymied by Doosan starter Choi Jun-ho. In the first inning, Hwang Sung-bin singled and Na Seung-yup doubled to right to put runners on first and third with no outs, but failed to score. From there, they retired 17 straight batters until the bottom of the sixth inning. Lotte got into trouble in the fourth inning when starter Aaron Wilkerson was hit by a double off the bat of Jeon Min-jae. The misplayed ball allowed the run to score, but Wilkerson minimized the damage by pitching through the sixth inning, allowing two runs on eight hits with four walks and five strikeouts.
The deficit was deep. But Reyes came through with the big hit. Reyes led off the seventh inning with a double to right-center off Byung-heon Lee. Jeon Jun-woo flied out to right field and Jung Hoon grounded out to second base to score Reyes. Lotte tied the game two batters later in the eighth when Hwang Sung-bin singled to center field and Yoon Dong-hee scored from second on a wild pitch.
Lotte overcame numerous threats to reach the bottom of the 10th inning.
With the bases loaded in the 10th after singles by Park Seung-wook and Lee Ho-joon, Reyes hit a walk-off grand slam to end the four-hour, 20-minute game. He lifted a 130-kilometer slider from Doosan’s Kim Myung-shin over the right-field fence to send the Moon Soo-bees into a frenzy.
Reyes was all smiles as he was doused with water by his teammates. 카지노사이트 추천 It was his second consecutive game. He became the 24th player in KBO history to hit a game-ending grand slam.
“It was a very tough game today, and I’m very happy that we were able to win,” Reyes said after the game, adding, ”I think this win gives us a step closer to fall baseball and gives us hope.”
“My teammates and the pitchers did a great job up front. “When my teammates sprayed me with water, I felt like I was part of the team,” he laughed, ‘and it made me feel even better.’ ‘I was waiting for the ball,’ he said of his big moment, ”and I felt good hitting it. All day long, the Doosan pitchers had a similar pattern. So I knew what I was going to do,” he reflected on the finish.
Indeed, Reyes has been a contact and clutch hitter. This season, he’s batting .909 with 122 hits, nine home runs, 75 RBIs, and an OPS of .535, but his power has been relatively lacking compared to his other skills.
But that doesn’t bother him.
“I’m a contact hitter,” he says, ‘but I tell myself, ’If I hit the ball well, the home runs will come. I’m approaching every at-bat with the idea that I just need to hit the ball well,” he said.
Thanks to Reyes, Kim Tae-hyung and Lotte have been able to hold on. Despite his lack of power, Reyes has been the most feared hitter in clutch situations. This year, he is 4-for-1 (41-for-100) with runners in scoring position and 4-for-8 (24-for-50) with two runs or less in the seventh inning. Reyes’ ability to come through in clutch situations has centered a lineup that struggled early in the season and allowed the new, younger players to get on track.
Manager Kim Tae-hyung didn’t name Reyes the MVP of the first half for nothing when he said, “When you have runners on base, your focus increases.”
Lotte hasn’t had a foreign hitter in the lineup in a long time. And they’re continuing their fall baseball journey with Reyes on the mound.