After losing the first two games of the Korean Series against the Kia Tigers on the road earlier in the week, the Samsung Lions are back home for the next two games Friday and Saturday.Those two could end up being their final two games of this Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season, but slugger Lewin Diaz said Friday, before Game 3 at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, that the focus was on first taking care of business in the third game of this best-of-seven series."We lost the first two games, but today is a new story," Diaz told Yonhap News Agency. "No matter what happened in the past is in the past. We'll try to win today and win tomorrow, and just tie the series."Diaz and his teammates won both of their home games in this southeastern city in the previous postseason series against the LG Twins and did so emphatically. They won the first game by 10-4 on the strength of three home runs and claimed the next game 10-5 with five homers. Diaz launched three homers in those two contests."Every time we're home , we have a lot more confidence," he said. "I like to hit at home. It's a good park to hit a home run. But I will just try to get on base first and try to get in a scoring position for my team."In the Korean Series, the Lions blew a 1-0 lead that they had built before the game was suspended due to rain and ended up losing 5-1 after the game resumed two days later. Game 2 immediately followed, and the Lion dropped that one 8-3.Diaz did his part in the second game by batting 4-for-5. Second baseman Ryu Ji-hyuk contributed three hits and a walk, despite suffering a neck injury earlier in the game when he fell to the ground awkwardly on a slide by Lee Woo-sung while trying to turn a double play.Ryu, with no ill effects from the play, said all it takes is one win to plant seeds of doubt in the Tigers' mind."When we beat the Twins twice and then lost the third game, we started feeling some pressure," Ryu recalled. "So this is a must-win game for us. If we just do our thing at home, I think we will have the result we want in the end. I've told the guys we shouldn't be trying to do too much."This is the Lions' first home game since Game 2 against the Twins on Oct. 15. Their bats went cold after that series moved to the Twins' home, Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, for two games, and did not wake up in the first two against the Tigers in the Korean Series.Leadoff man Kim Ji-chan said he will try to lean on some positive memories from last week."We had such a fun start to our postseason here, and then our offense went a bit quiet as we started playing on the road," Kim said. "Now that we're home again, we feel like we can start swinging the bat better. We have nothing but fond memories from here."Shortstop Lee Jae-hyeon said the vibe in the clubhouse has remained upbeat despite being in a 2-0 hole."We've talked about trying to play better at home," Lee said. "But it's not as though we've been down on ourselves."Source: Yonhap News Agency
- September 4, 2026
