LOTTE wins 14-7 Nakdong River Derby & extends winning streak to 4 games
The Lotte Giants of baseball have won four straight games in August. The bats exploded.
Lotte won the Nakdong River Derby against the NC Dinos in the regular season of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League 14-7 on August 7 at Sajik Stadium in Busan. The win was Lotte’s fourth straight and improved their record to 45-54-3 on the season. They remain in ninth place but have lost ground on eighth-place Hanwha.
NC lost its second straight game to fall to 49-53-2. The gap between them and sixth-place KT is back to one game.
NC’s starting lineup was Park Min-woo (designated hitter), Seo Ho-cheol (second baseman), Davidson (first baseman), Kwon Hee-dong (left fielder), Kim Hwi-jip (third baseman), Kim Sung-wook (center fielder), Lee Jae-hwan (right fielder), Kim Hyung-joon (catcher), and Kim Joo-won (shortstop). The starting pitcher is Lee Jae-hak.
For Lotte, Hwang Sung-bin (center fielder), Ko Seung-min (second baseman), Reyes (left fielder), Son Ho-young (third baseman), Na Seung-yup (first baseman), Yoon Dong-hee (right fielder), Park Seung-wook (shortstop), and Son Sung-bin (catcher) are in the starting lineup. The starting pitcher is Kim Jin-wook.
NC struck first in the first inning. Park Min-woo led off the inning with a single to right field. Seo Ho-chul then grounded out to first base, but Davidson took advantage of a three-pitch, one-strike at-bat and lifted a 144-kilometer fastball from Lotte’s Kim Jin-wook over the center field wall. It was his 34th home run of the season.
But Lotte quickly turned the game around in the bottom of the first. After Hwang Sung-bin led off the inning with a double to right-center, Go Seung-min took NC Lee Jae-hak’s 122-kilometer changeup on a two-pitch, one-strike at-bat for a towering two-run shot. It was his ninth home run of the season and second straight.
Joon-woo Jeon struck out and Reyes flied out to left field to load the bases with two outs, but Lotte kept its chances alive with a single to left by Son Ho-young. Na Seung-yeop walked to put runners on first and second, but Yoon Dong-hee got out of the jam. On a two-pitch, one-strike at-bat, Yoon hit Lee Jae-hak’s 120-kilometer changeup for a three-run home run to left field. It made it 5-2.
In the bottom of the second inning, Lotte leadoff hitter Son Sung-bin’s at-bat was briefly interrupted by a sudden downpour. The game was suspended at 7:09 p.m. and a large tarp was placed. The game resumed at 8:05 p.m., 56 minutes later.
In the bottom of the second inning, Son was retired on a grounder to second base. However, one out later, Hwang Sung-bin and Ko Seung-min singled to put runners on first and third, and Jeon Jun-woo hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score another run. It was 6-2.
NC also benefited from the rain delay. In the top of the third, leadoff hitter Park Min-woo drew a walk. Seo Ho-cheol struck out, but Davidson singled to right and Kwon Hee-dong walked to load the bases. Kim Hui-jip followed with a single to left to make it 6-3.
With the bases loaded, Lotte quickly walked starter Kim Jin-wook. The decision was made because he hadn’t found his pace after the rain delay. Lotte brought in Park Jin for the second pitcher.
NC added one more run in the next at-bat on a sacrifice fly to left field by Kim Sung-wook. It made it 4-6. However, in the next at-bat, Lee Jae-hwan grounded out to shortstop. It was a bit disappointing for NC, and Lotte made a quick decision to minimize the damage.
Lotte went right back to work. After leadoff hitter Son Ho-young singled to left, Na Seung-yeop hit a double over the center fielder’s head that hit the top of the center field wall. A walk to Yoon Dong-hee and a grounder to first by Park Seung-wook put runners on second and third with one out, but Son Sung-bin hit a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 8-4.
Hwang Sung-bin singled and stole second to put runners on second and third. Go Seung-min hit an infield single to center field to load the bases, and Hwang scored 해외 카지노 사이트 two more runs on a wild pitch. The run scored on a throwing error by second baseman Seo Ho-chul. Lotte widened the gap to 10-4.
NC did not give up. In the top of the fourth inning, Kim Joo-won doubled and Park Min-woo singled to score one run. It became 5-10. Seo Ho-cheol singled to shortstop and Park Min-woo stole third to put runners on first and third. However, Davidson grounded out to shortstop to end the threat. A diving catch by shortstop Park Seung-wook saved the day for Lotte.
NC had runners on first and second in the top of the fifth with leadoff hitter Kwon Hee-dong singling to left and Kim Hwi-jip singling to right, but Kim Sung-wook flied out to center, pinch-hitter Song Seung-hwan struck out, and Park Se-hyeok flied out to right field.
In the end, Lotte pulled away. In the bottom of the fifth, Yoon Dong-hee singled to left and Park Seung-wook doubled to left-center, and with runners on second and third, Son Sung-bin took a three-pitch, 144-kilometer fastball from Shin Sang-hyun for a three-run homer to left-center. It was his fourth home run of the season and fourth four-hit game of the day. A walk to Sungbin Hwang and a single to the left field fence by Seungmin Ko put runners on first and third with no outs, and Junwoo Jeon’s grounder to shortstop scored the third run to extend the lead to 14-5.
NC got one run back in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Davidson, but the damage was done.
Lotte’s bench made a quick decision after starter Kim Jin-wook allowed one run on four hits (one home run) with three walks and three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. They quickly took advantage of the timing of the pitching change and stemmed NC’s flow. Park Jin (1 inning), Han Hyun-hee (1 inning), Jin Hae-soo (1 inning), Koo Seung-min (1⅔ innings), Song Jae-young (1 inning), and Hyun Do-hoon (1 inning) shut down the NC bats, setting the stage for the big win.
The offense pounded out 14 hits, including three home runs. Go Seung-min had a five-hit, four-RBI game, including a home run for the second straight day, while Yoon Dong-hee, Son Ho-young, Nae Seung-yup, and Hwang Sung-bin also had multi-hit games. Son Sung-bin had a four-hit game, including a home run.
For NC, starter Lee Jae-hak was tagged for nine runs on eight hits (two homers) with two walks and two strikeouts in two innings. Park Min-woo had a three-hit game and Seo Ho-cheol Davidson also had a multi-hit game, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the power.