Park Byung-ho of the Nexen Heroes has become the first South Korean baseball player in 11 years to hit 50 home runs or more in one season.
 
The 28-year-old first baseman hit back-to-back homers in the fifth and eighth innings in a 12-4 victory against the Lotte Giants in Busan on Tuesday, extending his home run record for the season to 51.
 
Park is the third player in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) to hit at least 50 home runs in a season. Lee Seung-yeop of the Samsung Lions set the Asian record for the most home runs per season in 2003 with 56, after hitting 54 in 1999. Shim Jong-soo, now retired, hit 53 home runs in 2003 when he was playing for the Hyundai Unicorns. 
 
Heroes starter Andy Van Hekken allowed only one run on seven hits over six innings for his 20th victory of the season. The 35-year-old American is the seventh pitcher in KBO history to win at least 20 games per season.
 
The team’s second baseman, Seo Geon-chang, hit a single against the Giants, making him only two hits shy of 200 hits per season. On Monday while playing against the Kia Tigers, Seo broke the KBO record for the most hits per season with his 197th hit. 
 
The Heroes have reduced the gap with the league-leading Lions by one-point-five games, with the Lions losing to the NC Dinos 2-1 on Tuesday.