Lions slugger Diaz enjoys another big postseason moment with key home run

By Yoo Jee-ho

DAEGU, Oct. 27 (Yonhap) -- Having been among the best postseason performers in South Korean baseball over the past two years, Samsung Lions first baseman Lewin Diaz lived up to his reputation Tuesday night.

Diaz slugged a two-run home run to power the Lions past the Kia Tigers by the score of 8-3 in Game 2 of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason.

The Lions dropped the series opener 5-1 on Monday while managing just two singles at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu. Diaz went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.

Though Diaz alone could not be faulted for the loss, the Lions needed him to get going from his usual cleanup spot to avoid falling into a 2-0 series hole at home.

Diaz rose to the occasion to cap a four-run fourth inning for the Lions.

With the Lions down 1-0, Park Seung-kyu had tied the score with a double, and Koo Ja-wook had hit a go-ahead single to give the Lions a 2-1 lead. It set the stage for Diaz's latest heroics, as he drilled a 3-2 fastball from starter Adam Oller and sent it into the seats in right-center field.

The ball left Diaz's bat at 170.3 kph and had a launch angle of 17.8 degrees.

It was Diaz's seventh career postseason home run, all of them coming since his postseason debut in 2024. No KBO player has hit more postseason dingers since then.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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