A stirring of the sleeping giant or a real wake-up call?
The Lotte Giants have woken up from the brink of last place. Lotte won the second game of their midweek series against the NC Dinos 14-7 on Sunday at Sajik Stadium in Busan, extending their winning streak to four games.
Both teams combined for 28 hits, including four home runs. Lotte's bats were on point. With the win, Lotte recorded its 45th victory of the season (54-3) and moved into ninth place, one game behind the eighth-place Hanwha Eagles. They are now two and a half games behind seventh-place NC, which has 53 points (49 wins, 2 draws).
Before last weekend, Lotte was slipping further and further behind Hanwha and trailing last-place Kiwoom Heroes by half a game.
However, in the midst of bad weather and a heat wave, the team rattled off four straight wins against top teams such as the SSG Landers, LG Twins, and NC Dinos, putting them squarely on track for a mid-table finish. Despite the sweltering conditions, 18,425 fans attended the game on a weekday. Could they be a factor in shaking up the standings battle, which has been stuck in three groups: the top-ranked KIA Tigers, the mid-tier, and the 8th through 10th spots?
NC went into the game with the following lineup: Park Min-woo (designated hitter), Seo Ho-cheol (second base), Davidson (first base), Kwon Hee-dong (left field), Kim Hwi-jip (third base), Kim Sung-wook (center field), Lee Jae-hwan (right field), 안전놀이터 Kim Hyung-joon (catcher), and Kim Joo-won (shortstop). Veteran Lee Jae-hak started in center field.
Hwang Sung-bin (center field), Ko Seung-min (second base), Jeon Jun-woo (designated hitter), Reyes (left field), Son Ho-young (third base), Na Seung-yup (first base), Yoon Dong-hee (right field), Park Seung-wook (shortstop), and Son Sung-bin (catcher). Kim Jin-wook got the start.
The biggest variables of the day were the two teams' home run offense and the unexpectedly heavy rain.
Lotte gave up a leadoff single to NC Davidson in the first inning. However, in the bottom of the inning, Go Seung-min tied the game with a two-run homer and Yoon Dong-hee hit a three-run shot to make it 5-2.
At this point, an unexpected downpour hit Sajik Stadium. The raindrops quickly grew thicker as fans scrambled for shelter above the stands. After about 20 minutes of rain, the downpour turned to a light drizzle. From 7:09 to 8:04, the game was suspended for about 55 minutes.
The starters of both teams were unable to get going. Lotte's Kim Jin-wook stranded the bases loaded in the top of the first inning and then gave up an RBI single to Kim Hwijip, followed by a sacrifice fly to Kim Sung-wook, leaving him with a poor 2 1/3 innings of four hits, three walks, and four runs.
NC starter Lee Jae-hak, who gave up six runs in the second inning, was replaced in the bottom of the third after giving up an RBI double to Na Seung-yup and a walk to Yoon Dong-hee. Two innings of eight hits and two walks, plus an error by second baseman Park Min-woo, resulted in a nine-run deficit.
Lotte extended the lead to 10-4 on a sacrifice fly by Son Sung-bin with runners on first and second and a throwing error by Park Min-woo at third base on an infield single by Go Seung-min with runners on first and third. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the team scored four more runs, including a three-run shot from 135 meters away by Son Sung-bin, to extend the lead to 14-5.
In the top of the sixth inning, NC Davidson's sacrifice fly with runners on first and third stood out as LOTTE's Hwang Sung-bin made a diving catch. LOTTE then kept NC from scoring any more runs as Kim Jin-wook was followed by Park Jin, Han Hyun-hee, Jin Hae-soo, and Koo Seung-min.
After Lee Jae-hak, NC brought in Lee Joon-ho, Kim Sang-hyun, Kim Min-kyu, and Son Ju-hwan to give their pitchers a break. In particular, Kim Min-kyu, a rookie developmental player who joined the team this year, enjoyed the thrill of making his first first-team appearance.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Son Ju-hwan's fastball was a “headshot” to Lotte's Shin Yoon-hoo. Shin was replaced by Kim Min-seok on her first day in the first team after an unexpected head shot. LOTTE brought in “pitcher” Kim Kang-hyun to pinch-hit, and NC brought in closer Lee Yong-chan to end the defensive inning without allowing any more runs.
Lotte closed out the game with Song Jae-young in the eighth and Hyun Do-hoon in the ninth. With the win, Lotte has now won four in a row, keeping their hopes alive for the fall baseball season.
