Lotte Giants played high-end baseball.
Lotte defeated KT Wiz 7-5 in Game 14 of the “2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League” held at Sajik Stadium on Sunday. With the victory, the team narrowed its game gap with KT, which ranks fifth in the league, to two, the last place to advance to the postseason. At the same time, the team advanced to seventh place in the league by beating SSG Landers (VS Jamsil LG Twins 0-5). The team posted 57 wins, three draws and 63 losses overall during the season.
Early in the game, a tight race between Lotte starter Aaron Wilkerson and KT starter Wes Benjamin took place. With two outs in the top of the fifth inning, Lotte gave up four runs as Wilkerson was hurt by KT’s batters. At the bottom of the fifth inning, when the score was 0-4, Lotte started its pursuit. With two outs and runners on the second base, Park Seung-wook hit an RBI timely hit, leading the game 1-4.
And in the bottom of the seventh inning, Lotte’s batters made a big splash and pounded the KT mound. The batters also stood out, but the “high-end baseball” that the runners displayed on the floor attracted attention. Lotte made the game 5-4 with a timely RBI by pinch-hitter Junghoon Lee in a 4-4 thin ice match. Since then, the runners on the floor have confused the KT fielders.
While Yoon Dong-hee was attempting a sacrifice bunt, second baseman Park Seung-wook penetrated into the empty third base. While reliever Kim Min-soo took over the ball, third baseman Oh Yoon-seok, who defended forward to handle the bunt hit, left the third base empty, and Park Seung-wook, who did not miss the gap, stole the third base. Park Seung-wook’s one base advance was huge. Then, third baseman Oh Yoon-seok made a catch error on Yoon Dong-hee’s grounder to third base, and Park Seung-wook stepped on home plate, further widening the gap to 6-4. 메이저놀이터
With one out and runners on the first and second bases, all runners tagged up Ko Seung-min’s fly ball to center field, creating chances for scoring with two outs and runners on the second and third bases. It was not a big hit that stretched beyond the warning track, but the runners started and moved to the scoring opportunity. Later, Victor Reyes hit a sacrifice fly with two outs and the bases loaded with Son Ho-young’s automatic four pitches to seal the 7-4 victory.
KT’s fielders were shaken by Lotte’s high-end play. The mood gradually began to tilt toward Lotte, and Lotte eventually completed the big inning and secured a valuable victory. On the other hand, KT could not overcome this crisis and suffered a bitter loss.
Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung was very satisfied with the team’s performance. Referring to the fielders, the team gave generous applause. “The fielders did a great job today. Despite losing until the middle to the end of the game, I was able to win the game by scoring a lot of points in the seventh inning without losing my concentration until the end,” he said after the game.
Meanwhile, Lotte Giants announced on Tuesday Chung Hyeon-su (3.00 ERA in 15 innings with one win and one hold in eight games this year) as the starting pitcher for the game. Chung became the first winning pitcher of his career as he allowed five scoreless innings in the game against the Kiwoom Heroes in Gocheok on June 30.
In response, KT will send out Joey-hyun (two losses and an earned run average of 6.75 in 14 games this year) as its starting pitcher. KT’s fight against Joey-hyun, who is playing this season as a substitute starter, will depend on his shoulder.