Jeong Byeong-dae (KT WIZ) has hit the game-winning hit seven times in his professional career.
If you include sacrifice flies, he has done it eight times. Whenever he was in trouble, he saved his team with a surprise performance.
In the first round of the playoffs against the NC Dinos on April 30, he hit a grand slam that may not have prevented the team from losing, but it was enough to lift the mood.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, down 1-9, Choi took a fastball from reliever Lee Yong-chan for a grand slam.
It was the 19th grand slam in postseason history and the sixth in playoff history.
It was the only consolation for KT, which was being pushed around by NC’s firepower.
It was also a moment that made up for the mistake of not being able to get a glove on NC’s Kwon Hee-dong’s blistering triple with runners on first and second in the fourth inning.
“There are still games to come and we need to win today, so (the ninth-inning rally) is good for us as a team and for me,” said Choi, who met with the team ahead of the second game on the 31st. “Based on this, I think we can prepare well for the second game today and have a better result.”
“The feeling itself is not bad,” he said of the previous day’s game, “I think (starter) Cuevas pitched well, but the NC players hit really well. I think we were a little bit behind in our hitting and defense.”
NC had 13 hits and nine runs the previous day, while KT had nine hits and five runs.
Defensively, KT’s Hwang Jae-gyun missed Park Min-woo’s grounder in the third inning when he was down 0-2, and starter William Cuevas misplayed a bunt to second base in the fourth inning.
“I chased the ball well, but I didn’t make a good catch at the end,” Choi said of the missed hit by Kwon Hee-dong, adding, “I regretted it a lot and felt sorry for (then-pitcher) Lee Sang-dong.”
“Even in the second and third games, I think I need to be most concerned about my defense because an invisible mistake can change the momentum,” he said. 먹튀검증