The Lotte Giants gave the fans of Ulsan, the ‘second home’, a winning series. A batting lineup that was silent in the middle of the game finally delivered the final run.
Lotte won 6-2 in extra innings on Sunday at Munsoo Baseball Stadium in Ulsan, South Korea, in the final game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League regular season against the Doosan Bears.
The win was Lotte’s second straight and improved their season record to 38 wins, 46 losses and three ties (0.452 winning percentage). Lotte, which was 1-6 in July before this series, has turned things around with back-to-back wins. They moved to within 1.5 games of the ninth-place Hanwha Eagles, who also lost the game, and earned their first win in 20 days (2-1 against Sasik KIA on June 25-27).
Lotte got a quality start from starter Aaron Wilkerson, who faced eight hits and didn’t walk a batter, striking out four and walking two in six innings. Yoon Dong-hee, who started the game off the bench despite not having his bat explode as much as the previous day, hit a pinch-hit RBI single to tie the game.
Doosan showed some hope with second-year right-hander Choi Jun-ho, who made his first start in 20 days, pitching six innings of one-hit ball with five strikeouts and two walks. At the plate, Yang Ji-hye had three hits despite being designated hitter after taking a ball to the knee in the previous game, while captain Yang Seok-hwan also had a multi-hit game.
Early in the game, Doosan had several scoring opportunities against Lotte ace Wilkerson. In the top of the first inning, an error by the first baseman and a single up the middle by Yang put runners on first and second, but Kim Jae-hwan struck out. In the second and third innings, Yang and Henry Ramos each singled, but neither scored.
Finally, Doosan took the lead in the fourth inning. Yang Seok-hwan led off the inning with a single to left, and Kang Seung-ho followed with an infield single. Kim Ki-yeon hit a ball straight at Wilkerson, but he couldn’t make the catch, putting runners on second and third. Jeon Min-jae then 파워볼사이트 추천 singled to center field to bring both runners home.
Lotte was not without its chances. In the bottom of the first, Hwang Sung-bin walked, stole second, and Na Seung-yeop singled to right to put runners on first and third with no outs. But Ko Seung-min fouled out to first base, and Victor Reyes grounded out to first base, stranding Hwang Sung-bin at third. Lotte squandered the lead when Jeon Jun-woo flied out to center field.
From then on, Lotte was stymied by the pitching of Choi Jun-ho. After Na Seung-yup’s single in the first inning, Lotte retired 17 consecutive batters until Na walked again in the sixth inning.
However, Lotte was able to capitalize on Doosan’s bullpen in the bottom half of the game and eventually tie the score. In the bottom of the seventh, Reyes led off with a double to right-center field against reliever Lee Byung-heon. After Reyes advanced to third on Jeon Jun-woo’s fly ball to right field, Doosan switched back to Hong Gun-hee for pinch-hitter Jung Hoon. Jung Hoon’s line drive was caught by second baseman Kang Seung-ho, but the runner from third came home and Lotte pulled within one run.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Hwang Sung-bin singled to center field, prompting Doosan to quickly bring in closer Kim Taek-yeon. However, after a foil by Kim, pinch-hitter Yoon Dong-hee singled to right-center field, scoring Hwang Sung-bin and tying the game at 2-2.
The two teams were unable to decide the game in regulation and headed to extra innings. Doosan had a chance to score in the top of the 10th when Jeon Min-jae doubled with one out. Lotte switched pitchers to Kim Sang-soo, but he gave up a walk to Jung Soo-bin. Heo Kyung-min’s infield grounder advanced the runners by one base, and Ramos’ high fly ball loaded the bases. However, pinch-hitter Jeon Damin struck out looking to end Doosan’s scoring chances.
In the bottom of the 10th inning, Lotte got a leadoff walk to Park Seung-wook, but Choi Hang struck out swinging and Hwang Sung-bin grounded into a double play. Lee Ho-joon and Go Seung-min drew walks to load the bases, and Reyes hit a grand slam off Doosan pitcher Kim Myung-shin to end the game.
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