The Lotte Giants scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning to complete a sweep of the Doosan Bears.
Lotte won the second game of a three-game midweek series against Doosan in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League on Sunday at Munsu Baseball Stadium in Ulsan, South Korea, 6-2 in 10 innings. With the win, the team extended its winning streak to two games and clinched the best-of-seven series. Their season record is 38 wins, 3 draws, and 46 losses. In particular, Ulsan has won three straight games since September 7, last year against the Samsung Lions (2-1).
On the other hand, Doosan, who dreamed of a comeback after losing on the first day (16/0-4), fell into a three-game losing streak with the defeat. Their season record is 48 wins, 2 draws and 44 losses.
Lotte looking for two wins vs. Doosan looking to even the series at 1-1
Lotte and Doosan were battling to clinch the best-of-seven series or even the series.
Lotte’s starting lineup was Hwang Sung-bin (center field), Na Seung-yeop (first base), Ko Seung-min (second base), Reyes (right field), Jeon Jun-woo (left field), Lee Jung-hoon (designated hitter), Noh Jin-hyeok (third base), Park Seung-wook (shortstop), Son Sung-bin (catcher), and starting pitcher Aaron Wilkerson (8-7, 3.64 ERA in 19 games and 118⅔ innings this year).
Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung said before the game, “Yoon Dong-hee looked heavy for a couple games. The hitting coach also said, ‘It’s okay to take a day off (for recovery). He can play as a pinch-hitter or catcher.”
Doosan’s lineup is Jung Soo-bin (center field), Heo Kyung-min (third base), Henry Ramos (right field), Yang Ji (designated hitter), Kim Jae-hwan (left field), Yang Seok-hwan (first base), Kang Seung-ho (second base), Kim Ki-yeon (catcher), Jeon Min-jae (shortstop), and starting pitcher Choi Jun-ho (2-4, 5.87 ERA in 12 games and 53⅔ innings this year). Yang Ji-hyun, who is coming off an injury, started at designated hitter instead of catcher.
Before the game, Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop said, “Yang-ji was hit by a ball in the bone area yesterday (Nov. 16). It’s a bone bruise. It’s fine for a position player, but because he’s a catcher, he has to sit down and get up, so I think he needs to rest for a day or so.”
Lotte bats stifled by Choi, Wilkerson struggles
The Lotte batting lineup struggled to get going against Doosan starter Choi Jun-ho. It started well. In the top of the first inning, leadoff hitter Hwang Sung-bin drew a walk on four consecutive pitches on an 0-1 count. After a stolen base, Na Seung-yup singled to right to put runners on first and third, but that was it. After the next batter, Ko Seung-min, turned on a foul fly to third base, Reyes grounded out to first base to end the inning. Jeon Jun-woo followed with a fly ball to center field, but no runs scored.
From the bottom of the second to the top of the fifth inning, he was silent for four consecutive innings. The Lotte batting lineup, which continued to strike out in succession, was silent and failed to create any scoring opportunities. On the other hand, Choi Jun-ho continued to pitch well. He dominated his opponent with salty pitches, allowing just one hit (a walk to Na Seung-yup with two outs in the bottom of the sixth) in five innings from the second through the sixth. Choi ended up with a final stat line of six innings, one run on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks, leaving the Doosan bench smiling.
Wilkerson kept the score tight by minimizing runs. The top of the fourth inning proved to be the difference. After back-to-back singles to Yang Seok-hwan and Kang Seung-ho, Kim 파워볼실시간 Ki-yeon was hit by a pitch to put runners on second and third. One out was all that was needed to get out of the jam, but Jeon Min-jae’s mis-hit ball fell just out of the reach of second baseman Go Seung-min and center fielder Hwang Sung-bin, allowing two runs to score and dropping the score to 0-2. Wilkerson’s final line was six innings, eight hits, five strikeouts, no walks and two runs.
◆Pounding the Dusan Relievers…Lotte starts to catch up in the middle of the game
In the middle and late innings, Lotte rallied to score runs.
It started in the bottom of the seventh inning. Leadoff hitter Reyes hit a double to right-center off reliever Lee Byung-hun to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Then, Jeon Jun-woo hit a foul fly to right field and pinch-hitter Jung Hoon hit a grounder to second base against reliever Hong Gun-hee to trade runs and outs to make it 1-2.
In the bottom of the eighth, Lotte tied the game. Two batters later, Hwang Sung-bin led off with a single up the middle against Lee Kyo-hoon. He then stole second on a wild pitch and came home on a single by pinch-hitter Yoon Dong-hee to tie the game at 2-2. Yoon then drove in a valuable run with a single against Doosan closer Kim Taek-yeon.
Late-game rally seals Lotte’s dramatic win in the 10th inning
In the bottom of the 10th inning, Lotte secured a thrilling victory.
Park Seung-wook led off with a walk against reliever Kim Yoo-sung and reached first base. Choi Hang-hang then struck out swinging and Hwang Sung-bin grounded out to second base, which seemed to dampen the mood. Lee Ho-joon drew a walk in his first at-bat, followed by Go Seung-min, who also drew a walk to load the bases.
Zupo Reyes took advantage of the opportunity. He took two pitches from Kim Myung-shin and launched a 115-meter grand slam over the right field fence (his ninth of the season) to give the team the win.
Lotte vs Doosan: Who did well?
Lotte was led by Wilkerson’s 6 innings of 2 earned runs in a quality start (6 starts with 3 earned runs or less). He was followed by Lee Min-seok (0 innings, 0 runs), Han Hyun-hee (1⅔ innings, 0 runs), Jin Hae-soo (0 innings, 0 runs), Kim Kang-hyun (⅓ innings, 0 runs), Kim Won-joong (1⅓ innings, 0 runs), and Kim Sang-soo (⅔ innings, 0 runs).
At the plate, Reyes hit the game-winning home run. Jeong Hoon Jung and Yoon Dong-hee added RBI singles to energize the offense.
On the other side, Doosan got a strong performance from starting pitcher Choi Jun-ho. He pitched six scoreless innings, but was unable to secure the victory due to poor relief. Lee Byung-heon (1 run in ⅓ innings), Hong Gun-hee (1 run in ⅔ innings), Lee Kyo-hoon (1 run in ⅔ innings), Kim Taek-yeon (1 run in 1⅓ innings), Kim Yoo-seong (3 runs in ⅔ innings), and Kim Myung-shin (1 run in 0 innings) were the relievers.
At the plate, Jeon Min-jae had two hits and Yang Yang-ji provided the offense with three hits, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the loss.