The Lotte Giants struggled to win three consecutive victories.
Lotte won 3-1 after a close match with the Hanwha Eagles in the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ held at Daejeon Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park on the 16th, going to the 10th inning. 2nd place Lotte stepped on the high of 20 wins (11 losses) in the season and ran on the upward path, while 9th place Hanwha fell into two consecutive losses and recorded a season record of 12 wins, 21 losses and 2 draws.
Starting pitcher Charlie Barnes completely blocked the Hanwha batting line. He pitched 7 innings with 92 pitches, 3 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts and 1 run, but withdrew without a win or loss. Afterwards, Koo Seung-min (0 innings) – Kim Sang-soo (⅔ innings) – Kim Won-joong (1⅓ innings) – Kim Do-gyu (1 innings) kept the victory. Kim Won-joong took his 2nd win of the season.
The first run was scored in the first inning. Leading batter Kim Min-seok opened the water by hitting the base on the sand dunes. Kim Min-seok stole second base when Han Dong-hee was at bat with 1st out and 1st base, and scored thanks to Ahn Chi-hong’s timely hit from the left at 2nd out and 2nd base.
Although Lotte took the lead, it was not easy to attack the ball of Hanwha ace Felix Pena. Pena endured with 98 pitches, 7 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts and 1 run in 6 innings.
Barnes, who was cruising, was in danger in the bottom of the 8th inning. The lead batter Oh Seon-jin was allowed a double that fell into the left field, putting him in a crisis in an instant. Lotte immediately put Koo Seung-min as the second pitcher, and Hanwha replaced Brian O’Grady with Park Jung-hyun as a pinch hitter.
At this time, an unexpected incident occurred for both teams. Park Jeong-hyun was hit on the front of his helmet by a ball thrown by Seung-min Koo while trying to make a sacrifice bunt. Koo Seung-min was automatically ejected for a headshot, and Lotte requested a video review, but the result was not overturned.
It was a heartbreaking moment for Lotte, but Kim Sang-soo, who pitched in for relief, saved Lotte. In the crisis of 1st and 2nd base safely, he accomplished 200% of his mission by turning Lee Jin-young back to back with strikeouts on swings in succession as a result of the euro. Both batters were hit by Kim Sang-soo’s forkball with a large drop.
Finishing pitcher Kim Won-joong took the mound in the second out 1st and 2nd bases that followed. Lotte coach Larry Sutton gave Kim Won-joong four outcounts, but Kim Won-joong gave Jeong Eun-won a right-handed hit and tied the score 1-1.
In the top of the 10th inning, Noh Jin-hyeok came out as a solver. Leading hitter An Chi-hong opened the door with a hit in the middle right, but Jeon Jun-woo tried a sacrifice bunt and failed. When Lotte’s flow was about to break, Noh Jin-hyeok opened the distance to 3-1 with a thunderbolt-like superiority two-run gun.
Kim Won-joong showed a willingness to take the mound in the 10th inning, but was replaced by Kim Do-gyu after giving up a hit to lead batter Oh Seon-jin. Kim Do-gyu kept the team victory by handling the 3 batters cleanly. Kim Do-gyu earned his first save of the season 토토사이트.