Doosan, Kwak Bin, who said goodbye to Alcantara, made 7 perfect throws → Yang Eui-ji + Yang Seok-hwan 2G consecutive Arch 6-3 Lotte and won 2 consecutive games. Third place, jump!

Jul 04, 2024

A game between the Doosan Bears and the Lotte Giants at Jamsil Stadium on the 4th. Kwak Bin of Doosan, who struck out Lotte Jeon Joon-woo with two outs and runners on the first and second bases in the top of the fifth inning, roars. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2024.07.04/

A game between the Doosan Bears and the Lotte Giants at Jamsil Stadium on the 4th. Doosan Yang Eui-ji is cheering after hitting a two-run shot with two outs and a runner on first base in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2024.07.04/

A game between the Doosan Bears and the Lotte Giants at Jamsil Stadium on the 4th. Doosan Yang Seok-hwan is cheering after hitting a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2024.07.04/

Doosan Bears finished the first half refreshingly by showing off their hot firepower.

Doosan won the final game of the first half against Lotte at Jamsil Stadium on the 4th with Yang Eui-ji and Yang Seok-hwan 'Yang Yang-po', who had a home run for two consecutive days.

Doosan, which had been sluggish with two wins and eight losses in the last 10 games until the previous day, won two consecutive games at the expense of Lotte and succeeded in turning the tables ahead of the end of the first half. He won his 46th victory (39 losses and 2 draws) and jumped to third place, beating the Samsung Lions.

On the other hand, Lotte, which had dreamed of jumping to the mid-range by whistling for five consecutive wins before this series, fell back to eighth place after being hit by Doosan for two consecutive losses. Lotte is constantly caught every time it knocks out of the lower ranks this season.

Ahead of the game, Doosan said goodbye to Raúl Alcantara '20 winning ace'. Instead, he hired a new foreign player, Jordan Balazovic.

Doosan general manager Kim Tae-ryong and head coach Lee Seung-yeop are talking. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2024.07.04/

Alcantara was informed of the replacement shortly after going to Jamsil Stadium at around 2 p.m. that day. They calmly said goodbye to coach Lee Seung-yeop and general manager Kim Tae-ryong, as well as the team. Manager Lee Seung-yeop said, `He's a player who has done so much. I'm sorry I couldn't help you anymore. The team leader has no choice but to make this choice. He said he was disappointed.

Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung did not hide his regret for the upset loss of the game, which was leading 6-0 the previous day. We must overcome Park Se-woong as an ace. Should I sing it to the room of truth?" he said, expressing his frustration.

On the same day, Lotte played in the lineup of Hwang Sung-bin (center fielder), Yoon Dong-hee (right wing), Jeon Joon-woo (designated hitter), Reyes (right wing), Na Seung-yeop (first base), Noh Jin-hyuk (third base), Choi Hang (second base), Son Sung-bin (fosu) and Park Seung-wook (right wing). The selection is 'Sajikjus' Wilkerson.

Doosan faced off with Jung Soo-bin (center fielder), Heo Kyung-min (third base), Ramos (right fielder), Yang Eui-ji (catcher), Kim Jae-hwan (designated hitter), Yang Seok-hwan (first base), Kang Seung-ho (second base), Jeon Min-jae (striker) and Jeon Da-min (left fielder). The first choice is Kwak Bin.

The match was plagued by heavy rain like squalls, which continued to hurt the referee, the team and the crowd. During Lotte's attack in the top of the third inning, heavy rain caused the referee to stop the game, but the rain stopped immediately after the team withdrew to the dugout. The game continued in 7 minutes, but Lotte failed to take advantage of the first and second base chances with one out and failed to score.

The game was suspended due to heavy rain during Doosan's attack in the bottom of the sixth inning. Again, the game continued in five minutes as rain stopped immediately after the withdrawal of the team. Doosan, which added one point with Kang Seung-ho's timely hit at the first and second bases with no outs before the game was suspended, also failed to score additional points due to the failure of follow-up hits after the game resumed. Fortunately, 19,372 baseball fans who visited the scene were able to watch the game without rain and without interruption for a long time.

And the main character of the day was Doosan.

Doosan starter Kwak Bin pitched hard in the second inning by preventing the crisis of losing points with one out and runners on second and two outs in the third inning. In the meantime, Lotte starter Wilkerson continued to pitch perfectly without getting on base against 10 Doosan batters until the fourth inning with one out.

However, once the flow was broken, Doosan's score followed immediately. Doosan scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning with Yang Eui-ji's two-run shot to the left with two outs and a runner on the first base. Yang Eui-ji hit a home run in two consecutive games following a two-run shot and a grand slam the previous day. Contrary to what he said was "This year, we focused on maintaining the batting average rather than home runs", Yang Eui-ji raised his sense of home run ahead of the closing of the first half.

Doosan had one more bat. Yang Seok-hwan, who scored five RBIs the previous day by hitting the finishing hit with a come-from-behind bases-loaded single. Yang Seok-hwan appeared as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fifth inning and scored another home run from Wilkerson.

Kang Seung-ho's hit, Lotte catcher Son Sung-bin's error, and Jeon Da-min's bunt hit followed to load the bases with no outs. Jung Soo-bin's sharp hit became a straight hit that was sucked into Lotte's first baseman Na Seung-yeop's glove, but the next batter, Huh Kyung-min, got a push walk to make it 4-0.

Still, Wilkerson was not completely destroyed. He struck out Ramos with a foul fly and Yang Eui-ji, finishing the fifth inning with 91 pitches and four runs in five innings without additional runs.

However, Kwak Bin firmly blocked Lotte's batters. He missed all the chances of two outs and runners on first and second base in the top of the fifth inning and two outs in the top of the sixth inning, and Kwak Bin ended the day's pitch with two hits and four walks in six innings. In the top of the seventh inning, second pitcher Lee Young-ha also retired with three outs.

In the meantime, Doosan scored the fifth run in the bottom of the sixth inning with Kang Seung-ho's timely hit in the first and second bases with no outs made by leadoff batter Kim Jae-hwan's double and Yang Seok-hwan's walk against Lotte's second pitcher Kim Jin-wook. In the sixth inning alone, coach Lee Seung-yeop earned one additional opportunity by succeeding in both video readings, including Kim Jae-hwan's home match and Yang Seok-hwan's contest to check the second base.

A game between the Doosan Bears and the Lotte Giants at Jamsil Stadium on the 4th. Kim Jae-hwan is rushing toward home when Doosan's Kang Seung-ho hits first and second base in the bottom of the sixth inning with no outs. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2024.07.04/

However, Doosan stopped the flow due to rain and failed to score additional points due to the interruption of the changed pitcher Lee Min-seok. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Lotte's Han Hyun-hee also blocked a chance for first and second bases with no outs.

Doosan added one more run in the bottom of the eighth inning with Jung Soo-bin's RBI timely hit, widening the gap to 6-0.

The top of the ninth inning was the last hurdle. Kim Yoo-sung faced a one-out full base crisis with a not-out foil, a mistake and a walk without a hit, and Yoon Dong-hee's one-run timely hit.

Doosan Bench quickly put up closer Kim Taek-yeon, but Reyes' missed hit led to a two-run timely hit by shortstop Keenum, making it 6-3.

However, Kim Taek-yeon finished the game by catching Oh Sun-jin with two outs and a full base crisis.

lunarfly@sportschosun.com