Who can stop the Lotte Giants now? Lotte is having a hot April with a 7-game winning streak.
Lotte won 5-2 in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League home game against Kiwoom Heroes held at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 28th.
Recently, Lotte was on a winning streak. After winning 5-3 in the home game against KIA on the 20th, NC and Changwon ended their three-game series with a sweep victory. Then, after returning home, they won 2 wins against Hanwha (1 game postponed due to rain) and won 6 consecutive victories.
It is the first time since 2020 (August 1-12) that Lotte last achieved 6 wins in a row. It was no exaggeration to say that the team was on the rise.
In the meantime, Lotte has been nicknamed ‘Bomde’ because it only does well in demonstration games and the beginning of the season, and then suffers a downward trend. However, this year, it stayed in 9th place with a win rate of 0.333 (4 wins, 1 draw, 8 losses) in the demonstration game, and even after entering the season, it was only 8th before the 6 consecutive wins period.
However, Na Gyun-an (25), who has been consistently throwing well at the beginning of the season, has become a support for the pitching staff, and the bullpen, where Choi Jun-yong (22) has returned, is also continuing to pitch stably. At bat, Ahn Kwon-soo (30) and Hwang Seong-bin (26) set the table, and the follow-up batters somehow scored.
Before the game on the 28th, Lotte coach Larry Sutton (53) said, “I think six consecutive wins are proof that the team is coming together as one. It is progressing well as one team,” he explained the current atmosphere.
Even in the game that day, Lotte showed cohesiveness in the other line from the beginning. At the end of the second inning, Jack Rex and Ahn Chi-hong’s consecutive hits and Roh Jin-hyeok’s sacrifice bunt created a chance for 1 out, 2nd and 3rd base. The atmosphere seemed to subside as second base runner An Chi-hong was tagged out, but Lee Hak-joo’s right-handed hit revived the fire.
Then, Lotte added one more point with No. 9 Kim Min-seok hitting a sharp double to the side of the right fielder. Ahn Kwon-soo’s 2nd RBI double came out in the following 2nd 2nd and 3rd base, and Lotte brought 4 points and atmosphere only in the 2nd inning.
Starter Charlie Barnes (30) also minimized runs while continuing his uneasy pitching. In the beginning of the second inning, he brought the bases loaded without a hitch, and he overcame the crisis by striking out Park Chan-hyeok on a swing and dealing with Lee Ji-young with a double stroke. He gave up two runs in the third inning, but no further runs were allowed.
In the beginning of the 5th inning, Barnes faced a crisis once again with a walk from Lee Hyeong-jong and an infield hit from Lee Jung-hoo. Then Lotte immediately posted veteran Shin Jeong-rak (36). After getting one out, he was hit by Lee Won-seok and drove to the bases full, but ended the inning by inducing Kim Hui-jip to play double.
Since then, starting from the 6th inning, Lotte has continuously put in bullpen resources such as Kim Sang-soo (⅔ innings) – Kim Jin-wook (⅔ innings) – Choi Jun-yong (0 innings) – Yoon Myeong-jun (⅔ innings) – Koo Seung-min (1 innings) – Kim Won-joong (1 innings) to lead. kept In the meantime, at the end of the 8th inning, Noh Jin-hyeok’s 1 RBI double hit Lotte, putting a wedge in the game 메이저놀이터.
By winning the game on this day, Lotte finally stepped on the 7th consecutive win. This is the fourth time in Lotte history and the first time in about 11 years since 2012 (June 21-28). In addition, the difference in riding with second place SSG was maintained by 0.5 games, and there was not much gap with the leading LG. Now, Lotte is flying toward a higher place.