Multiple postseason home run records set in Korean Series game

Multiple postseason home run records were set during a Korean Series game Monday night between the Samsung Lions and the home team Kia Tigers.

The Lions’ cleanup hitter Lewin Diaz homered in consecutive at-bats in Game 5 of the Korean Series at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 270 kilometers south of Seoul. First, he launched a two-run shot off starter Yang Hyeon-jong in the top of the first and then belted a two-run home run off Yang in the top third, chasing the veteran left-hander from the game.

It made Diaz the first player to homer in back-to-back at-bats in two different games within a single postseason in Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) history. Diaz had first done that on Oct. 15 against the LG Twins during the previous postseason round.

With five homers this postseason, Diaz also set a Lions franchise record for most home runs in one postseason, breaking a tie with six other players.

Third baseman Kim Young-woong is in that group of six players with four postseason homers, after going de
ep right after Diaz in the first inning. At 21 years, two months and four days old, Kim became the youngest KBO player with four homers in a single postseason. The retired Lions legend had held the previous mark at 23 years, two months and two days.

Another age-related record tumbled in the bottom fifth, when the Tigers’ designated hitter, Choi Hyoung-woo, hammered a solo home run.

He became the oldest player to homer in a postseason game at 40 years, 10 months and 12 days old, breaking the previous mark, held by former SSG Landers player Kim Kang-min, by about nine months.

Source: Yonhap News Agency