A stirring of the sleeping giant or a real wake-up call?
The Lotte Giants have woken up from the brink of last place. Lotte won the second game of their midweek series against the NC Dinos 14-7 on Sunday at Sajik Stadium in Busan, extending their winning streak to four games.
Both teams combined for 28 hits, including four home runs. Lotte’s bats were on point. With the win, Lotte recorded its 45th victory of the season (54-3) and moved into ninth place, one game behind the eighth-place Hanwha Eagles. They are now two and a half games behind seventh-place NC, who have 53 points (49 wins, 2 draws).
Before last weekend, Lotte was slipping further and further behind Hanwha and trailing last-place Kiwoom Heroes by half a game.
However, in the midst of bad weather and a heat wave, the team rattled off four straight wins against top teams such as the SSG Landers, LG Twins, and NC Dinos, putting them squarely on track for a mid-table finish. Despite the sweltering conditions, 18,425 fans attended the game on a weekday. Can they be the variable that will shake up the standings battle that has been stuck in three groups: the top-ranked KIA Tigers, mid-tier, and 8-10th.
NC went into the game with the following lineup: Park Min-woo (designated hitter), Seo Ho-cheol (second base), Davidson (first base), Kwon Hee-dong (left field), Kim Hwi-jip (third base), Kim Sung-wook (center field), Shin Jae-hwan (right field), Kim Hyung-joon (catcher), and Kim Joo-won (shortstop). Veteran Lee Jae-hak started in center field.
Hwang Sung-bin (center field), Ko Seung-min (second base), Jeon Jun-woo (designated hitter), Reyes (left field), Son Ho-young (third base), Na Seung-yup (first base), Yoon Dong-hee (right field), Park Seung-wook (shortstop), and Son Sung-bin (catcher). Kim Jin-wook got the start.
The biggest variables of the day were the two teams’ home run offense and the unexpectedly heavy rain.
Lotte gave up an early run to NC Davidson in the first inning. However, in the bottom of the inning, Go Seung-min tied the game with a two-run double and Yoon Dong-hee hit a three-run homer to make it 5-2.
At this point, an unexpected downpour hit Sajik Stadium. The raindrops quickly grew thicker as fans scrambled for shelter above the stands. After about 20 minutes of rain, the downpour turned to a light drizzle. From 7:09 to 8:04, the game was suspended for about 55 minutes.
With the flow broken, the starting pitchers for both teams struggled. LOTTE’s Kim Jin-wook stranded the bases loaded in the top of the third inning and then gave up a single to Kim Hwi-jip, followed by a sacrifice fly by Kim Sung-wook, leaving him with a poor 2 1/3 innings 토토사이트 of four hits, three walks, and four runs.
NC starter Lee Jae-hak, who gave up six runs in the second inning, was replaced in the bottom of the third after giving up an RBI double to Na Seung-yup and a walk to Yoon Dong-hee. Two innings of eight hits and two walks, plus an error by second baseman Park Min-woo, resulted in a nine-run deficit.
Lotte extended the lead to 10-4 on a sacrifice fly by Son Sung-bin with runners on first and third and an infield single by Go Seung-min with runners on first and third and a throwing error by Park Min-woo at third base. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the team scored four more runs, including a 135-meter three-run shot by Son Sung-bin, to extend the lead to 14-5.
In the top of the sixth inning, NC Davidson’s sacrifice fly with runners on first and third stood out as LOTTE’s Hwang Sung-bin made a diving catch. LOTTE then went on to retire Kim Jin-wook, followed by Park Jin, Han Hyun-hee, Jin Hae-soo, and Koo Seung-min to keep NC from scoring another run.
After Lee Jae-hak, NC brought in Lee Joon-ho, Kim Sang-hyun, Kim Min-kyu, and Son Ju-hwan to give their pitchers a break. In particular, Kim Min-kyu, a rookie developmental player who joined the team this year, enjoyed the thrill of making his first first-team appearance.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Son Ju-hwan’s fastball was a “headshot” to Lotte’s Shin Yoon-hoo. Shin was replaced by Kim Min-seok on her first day in the first team after an unexpected head shot. LOTTE brought in “pitcher” Kim Kang-hyun to pinch-hit, and NC brought in closer Lee Yong-chan to end the defensive inning without allowing any more runs.
Lotte closed out the game with Song Jae-young in the eighth and Hyun Do-hoon in the ninth. With this victory, Lotte has now won four straight games, keeping their hopes alive for the fall baseball season.