Kim Kwang-hyun lost 5 runs →'Lotte Killer' Park Sung-han flew!→The back door of the steel wall! SSG's 4th consecutive win, Lotte's 9th place drop

Jul 30, 2024

photo courtesy of SSG Landers

Ace Kim Kwang-hyun was shaken from the beginning. But with the support of 17,550 home fans

SSG Landers won 11-5 in Game 1 of the Weekday Series against the Lotte Giants at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 30th.

With this victory, SSG has recently won four consecutive games and reached the 50th victory (48 losses and 1 draw). He beat KT Wiz, who lost on the day, to rise to fourth place alone, tightening the reins of Samsung's pursuit of third place.

On the other hand, Lotte's 53rd loss (41 wins and 3 draws) is moving away from its dream of becoming an autumn baseball. The difference between KT, Doosan Bears, and NC Dinos, who are competing for the last five, has already widened for more than five games. Even the 8th place, which had been hard-won, was lost to the Hanwha Eagles.

On this day, SSG played in the lineup of Jihoon Choi (middle fielder), Jung Joon-jae (second base), Choi Jung (third base), Eredia (left fielder), Park Sung-han (left fielder), Choo Shin-soo (designated hitter), Han Yu-sum (right fielder), Lee Ji-young (catcher), and Oh Tae-gon (first base). Kim Kwang-hyun is the first choice.

photo courtesy of SSG Landers

Lotte faced off with Yoon Dong-hee (center fielder), Ko Seung-min (second base), Jeon Joon-woo (left fielder), Reyes (right fielder), Na Seung-yeop (first base), Jung Hoon (designated hitter), Choi Hang (third base), Information Geun (catcher) and Park Seung-wook (striker). The starters were Yoon Sung-bin, 'first starting pitcher in 1951 days' and 'first team mound in 1166 days'.

SSG got off to a shaky start with Kim Kwang-hyun shaking. In the top of the first inning, Lotte Yoon Dong-hee's hit, wild pitch, and Jeon Joon-woo and Reyes' timely hit gave up two runs first. After two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Choi Jung got on base with a lucky hit, and he won two runs with a timely hit by Herredia and Park Sung-han to pay it back.

In the top of the second inning, Kim Kwang-hyun allowed Ko Seung-min to make a two-run timely hit with two outs and runners on the first and second bases, continuing his anxious appearance. SSG turned it over 6-4 in the bottom of the second inning by combining Lee Ji-young's tying two-run shot, Choi Jeong's timely hit to reverse the game, and Park Sung-han's additional timely hit. Lotte lowered starter Yoon Sung-bin in one inning and put in Kim Kang-hyun and Choi Lee-joon one after another to enter the bullpen day.

photo courtesy of SSG Landers

In the top of the fourth inning, Choi Jeong's error, Jeon Joon-woo's hit, and center fielder Kim Jihoon Choi's error overlapped, leading to one run and 6-5 1 point difference. It was the last crisis for SSG.

I paid you back as much as I got. In the bottom of the fourth inning, leadoff hitter Jihoon Choi got on base due to Lotte's Ko Seung-min's error, and added one more point due to Lotte's first baseman Na Seung-yeop's error with two outs and runners on the first and second bases.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, pinch hitter Park Ji-hwan hit a two-run timely hit against pitcher Jung Woo-joon, who was changed from the first and second bases with two outs, and Park Sung-han in the bottom of the sixth inning and Han Yu-sum in the bottom of the eighth inning broke out one after another.

The only thing that shook the mound was the starter. Lee Ro-woon in the sixth inning, Seo Jin-yong in the seventh inning, and Han Doo-sol in the eighth inning were responsible for a clean one-inning perfect, and Jang Ji-hoon also finished the game without losing a point in the ninth inning. Lotte repaid the disappointment of the defeat by replacing a large number of the main fielders ahead of the sixth and seventh innings.