Watertight defense wins the day… Lotte comes from behind to beat No. 6 Doosan 4-3. ‘Chasing’ again with 3.5 games to go
Four-run comeback after first-inning leadoff homer
Gudrum, Noh hit back-to-back RBI singles to ‘make a difference’
Park Sae-woong pulled after giving up three runs in four and a third innings
Gudrum, Noh, Jin-hyuk, Jeon, Jun-woo, Yoon, Dong-hee defend well
Jeon Jun-woo goes 3-for-4 with a double and a walk
Choi Jun-yong, Koo Seung-min, Kim Sang-soo, Kim Won-joong ‘no-hit’
The Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) earned a valuable one-run victory thanks to their focused defense and offense. Lotte avenged the previous day’s loss and moved back to within 3.5 games of the sixth-place Doosan Bears.
Lotte won the 13th game of the season against Doosan 4-3 on April 4 at Sajik Stadium in Busan. The win avenged a 0-2 loss the day before. The Lions capitalized on RBI singles by Nico Goodrum and Noh Jin-hyuk in the first inning and held on for the win. Lotte showed their strong will to win by catching balls with their infielders’ unselfish defense at every crucial moment.
LOTTE starting pitcher Park Se-woong gave up a leadoff home run to Doosan’s No. 1 hitter, Jung Soo-bin, in the first inning. Jung took a 150-kilometer-per-hour fastball from Park and smashed it over the right-field foul pole. Umpire Cha Jung-koo ruled it a home run after video review. Lotte took a 0-1 lead. Park Se-woong gave up a double to Yang Seok-hwan, but did not allow another run.
Lotte turned the game around in the bottom of the first inning. LOTTE batters took advantage of Alcantara, who leads the KBO in ERA this season. Lee Jung-hoon, batting second and serving as the designated hitter, led off the inning with a double off Doosan’s Alcantara. Back-to-back singles by Ahn Chi-hong at third and Jeon Jun-woo at fourth gave Lotte a chance to tie the game. LOTTE got Jung-hoon to ground into an infield single, but Goodrum hit a two-run double that slipped between first and second base. LOTTE quickly took a 2-1 lead.
LOTTE loaded the bases with two outs when Lee Jung-geun drew a walk. Noh Jin-hyuk slid a ball from Alcantara to center field for a two-run double, bringing home Jeon Jun-woo and Goodrum. Lotte extended its lead to 4-1.
LOTTE took the pressure off Park Se-woong’s shoulders with focused defense after the reversal. In the top of the second inning, left fielder Jeon Jun-woo made a leaping catch of Heo Kyung-min’s long hit. In the top of the third inning, third baseman Gudrum caught a foul ball headed for the Doosan dugout at third base with one out, giving Park a boost. Park finished the second and third innings without allowing an earned run thanks to his defense.메이저사이트
Park ran into trouble in the top of the fourth inning. Park gave up a walk and a single to Kim In-tae and Heo Kyung-min, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Park induced the next batter, Park Kye-beom, to hit an infield grounder, and shortstop Noh Jin-hyuk leaped to catch the ball and force out Heo Kyung-min at first base. However, third baseman Gudrum failed to properly field Lee Yoo-chan’s infield grounder, allowing third baseman Kim In-tae to come home in the process. Lotte trailed 4-2. Park Se-woong finished the fourth inning without allowing another run.
Lotte scored another run in the fifth inning. Park gave up a leadoff double to Yang Seok-hwan. Park induced the next batter, Yang Ji, to hit an infield grounder to tag out Yang at second base. However, he gave up a walk to Kim Jae-hwan and then a single to Kim In-tae to score another run. Lotte trailed by one run, 4-3. Park was replaced by Choi Jun-yong with one out in the fifth inning. Park gave up three runs and seven hits in four and one-third innings. Choi ended the fifth inning by getting Heo Kyung-min and Park Kye-beom to fly out to center field and ground out to short.
Lotte brought in Koo Seung-min for the seventh inning. He got the first batter, Yang Ji, to ground out to third base. He then walked Kim Jae-hwan. Seung-min gave up a long fly to right field to Kim In-tae, but right fielder Yoon Dong-hee made a leaping catch in front of the fence for the out. After facing Kim In-tae, Koo Seung-min complained of discomfort in his right shoulder and was replaced by Kim Sang-soo. The Kim Sang-soo-Jeong-geun battery ended the seventh inning by preventing Cho Su-hyun from stealing from first base.
Lotte sent closer Kim Won-joong to the mound in the ninth inning. Kim Won-joong gave up a walk to leadoff hitter Jung Soo-bin after a nine-pitch battle. He gave up a single to Rojas, the second batter, to put runners on first and second with no outs. Kim got out of the jam by striking out Yang Seok-hwan in the third. Kim then retired the fourth batter, Yang Ji Won, on a fly ball to left field. Kim struck out the final batter, Cho Soo-hyung, to seal the win.
