“Being from Texas, I don’t feel too hot. I hope the weather will help my knee recover.”
The Lotte Giants’ Jack Rex has started a home run streak. It was a blow that kept the Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles in suspense until the last moment.
On June 6, before the third game of the midweek series against the Hanwha Eagles, Rex was eager to win.
The previous day, Rex had tied the game in the top of the eighth inning with a two-run shot over the right field fence, trailing 1-3.안전놀이터
Although Lotte lost the game in the bottom of the eighth inning to Choi Jae-hoon, it was an important shot to lift the team’s spirits.
Hanwha right fielder Lee Jin-young was visibly flustered by the pitch, which went further than expected. “It actually hit the inside of my bat. I didn’t think it was going to go over,” Rex smiled.
Lotte is now 3-0 in July after a tough June. “I think the ball that was called a second strike was low,” Rex said. It made me more competitive. I was able to focus more. I think that’s what led to the home run. I also had a runner on base,” he said, “I will try to maintain that kind of concentration in the future.”
Until the day before, Lotte had played exactly 72 games to turn the season around. A three-game losing streak in July brought their winning percentage to exactly 5 percent.
Rex said, “The team’s mood is a little low. In the second half of the season, we will work harder as a team to fight harder and become a winning team,” Rex said, emphasizing that “my knee is not in the best shape, but it will get better and better.”
Lotte manager Larry Sutton said, “Rex is starting to feel good at the plate. This home run came at a good time. “The last five weeks, the results haven’t been what we wanted, but we’ve been playing good baseball. From the first inning to the ninth inning, the guys didn’t give up and fought as a team until the end.”