The Lotte Giants have snapped a two-game losing streak as Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin looks on.
Lotte earned a 7-5 victory over the Hanwha Eagles in the regular season finale of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Sajik Stadium in Busan on Wednesday.
With the win, Lotte snapped a two-game losing streak and reclaimed third place with a 31-24 record. Hanwha, on the other hand, suffered their second straight loss and failed to break through. 21 wins, 34 losses, and 3 draws.
The game was a back-and-forth affair from the start. Hanwha took the lead in the first inning. In the top of the first, Lee Jin-young led off with a walk and Kim Tae-yeon followed with a double to left-center field, but there was no follow-up as the bases were loaded.
Lotte answered right back in the bottom of the first. Back-to-back singles by Hwang Sung-bin and Jeon Jun-woo put runners on first and third, and Rex’s sacrifice fly to right field brought in a run. However, the runners were stranded when Jeon Jun-woo, who was tagging up from first base, was thrown out at second.
In the bottom of the second, Lotte’s leadoff hitter Yoon Dong-hee singled up the middle but failed to steal second base. Noh Jin-hyuk struck out to load the bases, but Yoo Kang-nam drew a walk to continue the rally. Park Seung-wook singled up the middle to put runners on first and second, and Hwang Sung-bin followed with a double to right-center to make it 2-1.
However, Hanwha came back in the top of the third. Two batters later, Noh Si-hwan walked and Chae Eun-sung singled to left to put runners on first and second, and Choi Jae-hoon hit a two-run double to right-center to load the bases and make it 3-2.
The Lotte bats didn’t stand still in the bottom of the third. Rex and Ahn Chi-hong drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Ko Seung-min followed with a slashing single up the middle. However, the runner from second base, Rex, was thrown out at home.
It looked like things were going to get ugly, but then Yoon Dong-hee stepped up. With runners on first and second, Yoon hit a 150-kilometer fastball from Hanwha starter Moon Dong-ju for a come-from-behind three-run home run over the left field fence. It was Moon’s first pitch of the season. It made it 5-3. After an infield single by Yoo Kang-nam, Park Seung-wook hit a timely triple to the top of the right field fence to make it 6-3.
After a brief lull, the game erupted again in the sixth inning. Hanwha had earlier failed to capitalize on a bases-loaded opportunity in the fourth inning, as Noh Si-hwan and Chae Eun-sung both struck out. But in the sixth inning, they didn’t waste the opportunity. Pinch-hitter Jang Jin-seok singled to right and Lee Jin-young walked to put runners on first and second with no outs. Pitcher Kwon Kwang-min struck out and Noh Si-hwan flied out to right field, but back-to-back singles by Chae Eun-sung and Choi Jae-hoon put runners on first and second. It was 5-6 again. 먹튀검증
As the innings wore on, the bullpen battles turned into bullpen battles. In the end, it was Lotte that broke the tie. In the bottom of the eighth, Hwang Sung-bin led off with a walk and Jeon Jun-woo grounded out to the third baseman to put runners on first and second. Kim Min-seok walked, but Ahn Chi-hong hit an RBI single to right field to make it 7-5.
In the top of the ninth inning, Koo Seung-min walked to load the bases with two outs, but he was able to get out of the jam without allowing a run.