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Sloppy pitching in the bottom of the ninth leads to a 6-5 loss to Lotte Kiwoom

adminMay 27, 2023

The Lotte Giants pulled out a hard-fought victory over the Kiwoom Heroes after a sloppy mound performance in the final inning.

Lotte won a 6-5 road game against Kiwoom at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on April 27. With a 26-15 record, third-place Lotte closed the gap to half a game on second-place SSG Landers (28-16-1), whose game was canceled due to rain, and joined the battle for the top spot.

Lotte shelf Charlie Barnes pitches during the baseball game between Lotte Giants and Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Sunday. Yonhap
Until the sixth inning, the two teams battled in a pitcher’s duel.

Lotte starter Charlie Barnes never left a runner in scoring position and improved to 3-2 on the season with six innings of three-hit ball, one walk and five strikeouts. Kiwoom starter Choi Won-tae followed Barnes with six innings of three-hit ball메이저사이트, two walks and six strikeouts.

The seventh inning sealed the fate of both teams.

With the score tied at 0-0, Lotte broke the 0-0 streak in the seventh inning by hitting Kim Jae-woong. After an infield single by Noh Jin-hyuk and a single to left by Han Dong-hee put runners on first and second, Yoo Kang-nam hit a game-winning double to right-center field. With runners on second and third, Ahn Kwon-soo hit a single to left-center field through the Kiwoom infield, bringing both runners home.

Even after Kiwoom’s pitcher was replaced by Kim Dong-hyuk, Lotte’s bats didn’t cool down. Two innings later, Park Seung-wook doubled, Jeon Jun-woo singled, Ahn Chi-hong singled up the middle, and Yoon Dong-hee singled through the left side of the infield to make it 6-0.

Kiwoom, who had been completely tied up on the Lotte mound until the eighth inning, showed great focus in the bottom of the ninth, scoring five runs with two outs.

Lotte sent Jin Seung-hyun to the mound in the bottom of the ninth, but he gave up back-to-back singles and a walk and was replaced by Yoon Myung-joon with the bases loaded. Yoon appeared to get a breather by striking out Lee Won-seok, but gave up a double to Kim Dong-heon and handed the mound back to Kim Won-joong to close out the inning.

Kiwoom loaded the bases again after Lee Hyung-jong was hit by a pitch, then scored again on a push single by Lim Ji-yeol, followed by an RBI double by pinch-hitter Lim Byung-wook to make the score 6-5.

With runners on first and second, a long ball would have turned the game around, and Lee Jung-hoo stepped up to the plate. Kim Won-joong got Lee to ground out in front of the pitcher to keep the game close.

With a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, Lotte let their guard down and used up their closer, making it a difficult finish to what could have been an easy game.