The Lotte Giants of baseball suffered their first loss since the resignation of manager Larry Sutton. Despite a seven-inning, one-run performance by starter Charlie Barnes, the Giants couldn’t smile as their offense was silenced by errors and baserunners 스포츠토토.
Lotte lost 0-2 against Doosan at Sajik Stadium in Busan on March 3. Lotte, which was unable to play the previous two games against Doosan due to rain, earned its first win under acting manager Lee Jong-woon against Hanwha in Daejeon on March 31, but failed to win back-to-back games.
Barnes pitched seven innings, allowing one run (unearned) on five hits with four strikeouts. He didn’t walk a batter and didn’t allow a single hit. Barnes threw 93 pitches, most of which were changeups (32). His fastball (26) topped out at 146 mph. No one in the offense had a multi-hit game. Yoo Kang-nam had the only multi-hit game of the day with a hit and a walk. In addition to Yoo, Yoon Dong-hee, Ahn Chi-hong, and Jeon Jun-woo Goodrum each had a hit, leaving the Lotte batting lineup with five hits.
Lotte had the first scoring opportunity in the second inning, but couldn’t capitalize. With the score tied at 0-0, Goodrum led off the inning with a double to left field and moved to third on Han Dong-hee’s grounder. However, Seo Dong-wook was thrown out at the plate and did not come home.
Lotte scored its first run in the third inning. Barnes led off with a single to left field off Kang Seung-ho. Han Dong-hee, who caught Lee Yoo-chan’s routine grounder to third, failed to field it properly, putting runners at first and third. Then, with Jung Soo-bin at bat, Doosan attempted a double steal, and while Lee was caught in a rundown, Kang Seung-ho came home to take the lead. It wasn’t recorded as an error, but it gave them a run they didn’t need.
Lotte squandered a chance to tie the game in the fourth inning after falling behind 1-0. Ahn Chi-hong led off with a double down the left field line and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jeon Jun-woo, but the next batter, Gudrum, hit a line drive that was caught by Doosan shortstop Kim Jae-ho. Han Dong-hee then grounded out to shortstop, leaving Ahn Chi-hong stranded at home.
Both teams then engaged in a fierce pitching battle. Lotte pulled out the batting order in the seventh inning to tie the game. After leadoff hitter Gudrum was retired on a grounder to shortstop, Han Dong-hee and Seo Dong-wook were replaced by Noh Jin-hyuk and Ko Seung-min, respectively. However, they were retired on a strikeout and a flyout.
Lotte’s deficit deepened in the eighth inning. The second pitcher, Koo Seung-min, allowed the leadoff hitter, Kim Tae-geun, to reach base on a wild pitch. After reaching second on Park Kye-beom’s sacrifice bunt, Kim came home on Yang Ji Hyun’s single to center field. Lotte retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to take the loss.
Meanwhile, Lotte will play Doosan at Sajik Stadium on the 4th, a day off after the previous two games were canceled due to bad weather. They will play nine games in a row, including a double header against the Changwon NC on the 9th. Lotte called up Kim Kang-hyun (pitcher), Jin Seung-hyun (pitcher), Son Sung-bin (catcher), Seo Dong-wook (catcher), and Hwang Sung-bin (outfielder) from the second team as the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) implemented the expanded roster on April 1.