‘A reversal drama made by veterans’… Lotte is doing well for a reason!
While younger players are taking over, it’s still up to the veterans to hold down the fort.
That’s why the Lotte Giants are on the rise. In front of a packed house, the veterans wrote the drama of a come-from-behind victory.
Lotte won its seventh game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the KIA Tigers at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on 3 March with a 6-5 walk-off win to extend its winning streak to two games. They clinched the winner-take-all series regardless of the outcome of the fourth game.
Joon-woo Jeon and Jung-hoon, both veterans, were the ‘odd man out’ with multi-hit games, while Ahn Chi-hong, who had a four-hit game with one run, was another player who needed to be the focal point.
It was KIA who set the tone early on. They scored three runs in the top of the second inning to put pressure on Lotte starter Na Kyun-an. The Lotte batting line-up, on the other hand, struggled as they were unable to hit KIA starter Adonis Medina. 메이저사이트
The tide turned in the bottom of the sixth inning, when “veteran” Jeon Jun-woo led off with a double to left-centre field, followed by a single by Ahn Chi-hong. He then pulled Medina from the mound to attack the bullpen.
After Yoo Kang-nam’s double with two outs, KIA called on left-hander Lee Jun-young in place of Lim Ki-young, but another veteran came through. Jung Hoon, who came in as a pinch-hitter, hit a two-run single to make it 4-3. The comeback would not have been possible without the veterans at the top of the order.
In the bottom of the seventh, Ahn Chi-hong came to the plate. With two outs, he took a seven-pitch forkball from Park Jun-pyo and hit a single up the middle, while pinch-runner Jeon Jun-woo ran home with all his might.
In the top of the eighth, KIA scored a run to make it 5-5, but Noh Jin-hyuk’s final hit in the bottom of the ninth sealed the win. The role of the veterans was also highlighted in the process. After a leadoff single by Park Seung-wook, Jeon Jun-woo and Ahn Chi-hong drew walks to load the bases. KIA, who had almost exhausted their batting order, had to be psychologically chased by the veterans.
“I think the hitters were able to score runs in the middle and late innings because they didn’t give up on Medina and were persistent,” said Lotte manager Larry Sutton after the game. “Even though we had two difficult situations in the late innings, the hitters continued to work as a team to get on base and score runs, so our chances came in the bottom of the ninth.”