Doosan Bears captain Yang Seok-hwan (33) swung the bat and saved his team from a losing streak.
Yang started at first base in the sixth spot in the lineup against the Lotte Giants in Jamsil on Wednesday and went 4-for-5 with a grand slam, a home run, five RBIs and two runs scored to lead his team to a 13-8 victory. Doosan (45-2, 39-2), which won after a four-hour, 15-minute battle, snapped a two-game losing streak.
Yang, who struggled to hit .230 in May, found his groove in June. He hit .271 (26-for-96) in June, a significant jump from May (0.190), and recorded five multi-hit games in the final 10 games of the month. For Doosan, this recent trend is even more welcome, as Yang’s long-ball power could add to the destructive power of their lineup if he can improve his accuracy.
The momentum from the end of June carried over to the first game of July. Doosan fell behind 0-6 in the second inning after a rough outing from starter Raul Alcantara (six runs in two innings), but Yang Seok-hwan, like the captain he is, lifted the sagging spirits. Two batters later, he doubled to left and came home on Kang Seung-ho’s single to left. The five runs in the top of the second inning were the least of their problems.
Yang Seok-hwan, who completed his multi-hit game with a double to left-center in the bottom of the fourth inning, exploded in his third at-bat of the fifth inning, trailing 3-6. With one out, he lined a 145-kilometer-per-hour fastball from Lotte’s Kim Sang-soo over the left-field wall for his 19th home run (7-6). Yang Seok-hwan roared toward 무료성인웹툰 the first-base dugout to celebrate the home run.
The celebration didn’t last long. In the top of the sixth inning, the score was tied 7-7. A run was definitely needed. With the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning, Yang took a Koo Seung-min’s first-pitch slider (133 kilometers per hour) for a single to right field to give his team an 8-7 lead. It was a big hit in a game that desperately needed an extra run, completing his first four-hit game of the season. Doosan then scored another run on a wild pitch to secure the win.
In the top of the eighth inning, Lotte’s relentless offense cut the deficit to 9-8, but Kim Taek-yeon, who earned his seventh save with five strikeouts, closed out the inning without allowing the tying run to score. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Yang Ji, who had the bases loaded, added a grand slam (No. 11) over the right field fence to seal the game. Yang, who had hit 10 home runs in 11 consecutive seasons with a two-run shot in the bottom of the third inning, sent the home fans into a frenzy with his wedge home run. Lotte fans, who had filled the stands on the third base side, began to leave in disappointment. The victory was priceless for Doosan, who were in danger of losing three straight games before the final game of the first half (against Jamsil Lotte on April 4).