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| Park Young-hyun / Photo by Kang Tae-gu |
KT beat the LG Twins 6-5 on the road at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 29th in a 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League matchup.
The win pushed KT to a two-game streak after taking the opener, while LG was forced to wait for its first victory of the season.
KT jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning but saw LG rally to take a 5-3 advantage. In the top of the sixth, Heo Kyung-min crushed a two-run, game-tying homer, and KT added a run in the ninth to reclaim the lead.
Manager Lee turned to Park in the bottom of the ninth. Park had been outstanding in the opener, tossing 1 2/3 innings and 34 pitches to earn a save, but some wondered if the workload would limit his availability for a second straight day.
KT trusted him, and Park delivered — a clean, scoreless inning to notch his second consecutive save.
After the game, Park spoke with reporters.
On pitching on back-to-back days, Park said, \"Honestly, I didn't feel tired after throwing the day before. I actually felt better in the second inning and didn't even realize I'd thrown 34 pitches. Usually when you throw a lot you lose your appetite, but I ate more and rested well yesterday, so I felt good.\"
He added with a smile, \"I went to The Boiling Crab because it's famous. It was so good. Eating well probably helped produce a good result.\"
Park said he didn't wake up feeling off and, although his body felt a little heavy during warm-ups, once the game started he was able to focus and finish cleanly.
On the mound, Park allowed a hit to leadoff hitter Austin but got Moon Bo-kyung to fly out to left. With one out and a runner on first, manager Lee Kang-chul came out to the mound to give him some instruction.
\"The manager told me, 'Your stuff is so good right now, just throw it however you want,'\" Park recalled. \"I liked my pitches and felt confident they wouldn't make contact.\"
Park struck out Park Dong-won, but the home-plate umpire initially ruled no swing on a checked swing. KT challenged, and video review showed the bat head turned, overturning the call to a strikeout.
\"I could see the bat head turn toward me, so I was sure it was a swing,\" Park said. \"At first there was silence and I wondered what was happening, then I realized they were doing a video review. If it had stayed a ball, I wouldn't have known what to do, but the call went our way.\"
Despite being regarded as one of the league's top closers, Park has had trouble specifically against LG. Last season he appeared in eight games against them and finished 0-2 with three saves and a 9.95 ERA.
\"My numbers against LG weren't good. I gave up a lot of homers and hits and blew leads,\" Park said. \"I really wanted to pitch well against them. Whenever we faced LG I felt like I couldn't throw well, so knowing the season opener was against them made me prepare even harder.\"
Park also pitched for Korea in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, appearing in four games and taking one loss with a 12.00 ERA.
\"My velocity wasn't up at the WBC, but it feels like it's come back here,\" he said. \"Coach Je Chun-mo pointed out that my arm swing had shortened, which was causing problems. I fixed it, my command improved, and I feel I've found my balance.\"
Park closed by saying, \"The season opener is the most important game of the year. Getting off to a strong start like this makes me excited for the rest of the season. It also feels like the team's morale is higher, and that makes me really happy.\"
[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu sports@stoo.com]
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