Lotte overcomes ’56-minute rain delay’ to win Nakdong River derby + 4th straight win of season
The Lotte Giants swept the NC Dinos with a home run show from their bats. Go Seung-min, Yoon Dong-hee, and Son Sung-bin fired up the cannons to help the Giants win.
Lotte won 14-7 in the second game of a three-game midweek series against the NC Dinos of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Sajik Stadium on Sunday. With the win, the team extended its winning streak to four games. Their season record now stands at 45 wins, 3 draws, and 54 losses.
NC, on the other hand, won its second consecutive game and clinched the Rousing Series against Lotte. Their season record is 49 wins, 2 draws, and 53 losses.
‘Nakdong River Derby’: Winning Lotte vs. losing NC
In the ‘Nakdong River Derby’, Lotte, which has won three straight games, and NC, which has lost three straight games, met.
The home team fielded a lineup of Hwang Sung-bin (center fielder), Ko Seung-min (second baseman), Jeon Jun-woo (designated hitter), Victor Reyes (left fielder), Son Ho-young (third baseman), Na Seung-yup (first baseman), Yoon Dong-hee (right fielder), Park Seung-wook (shortstop), Son Sung-bin (catcher), and starting pitcher Kim Jin-wook (3-3 with a 4.65 ERA in 11 games and 50⅓ innings this year).
“(Yoon) Dong-hee was a little bit bad, so we changed the batting order,” said Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung, explaining the reason for the change in the batting order of Na Seung-yup (No. 6) and Yoon Dong-hee (No. 7).
NC’s starting lineup consisted of Park Min-woo (designated hitter), Seo Ho-cheol (second base), Matt Davidson (first base), Kwon Hee-dong (left field), Kim Hwi-jip (third base), Kim Sung-wook (center field), Chun Jae-hwan (right field), Kim Hyung-joon (catcher), Kim Joo-won (shortstop), and starting pitcher Lee Jae-hak (3-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 13 games and 66 innings this year).
“The combination of Davidson at third and Kwon Hee-dong at fourth seems to be effective in the batting order,” said NC manager Kang Myung-hwa. We were really worried when Park Gun-woo was dropped from the No. 3 spot. Hee-dong Kwon is not a No. 3 type of hitter, so I tried pulling him up one spot, and I think he looks better at the plate,” said Kang, who was positive about the change in the batting order between Davidson and Kwon.
‘Home run show’ from the start…Lotte’s Go Seung-min and Yoon Dong-hee vs. NC Davidson
From the very beginning, Lotte and NC heated up the stadium with a home run show.
In the top of the first inning, Lotte took the lead. Kim Jin-wook singled to right field to put runners on the corners for the leadoff hitter, Park Min-woo. He then got Seo Ho-cheol to ground out to first base and gave up a home run to Davidson. He hit a 135-meter, two-run homer over the center field fence to fall behind 0-2.
Lotte immediately turned the tide. In the bottom of the first inning, Go Seung-min and Yoon Dong-hee answered with identical home runs. After Hwang Sung-bin doubled, Go Seung-min hit a 130-meter, two-run home run (his ninth of the season) over the right field wall off Lee Jae-hak to tie the game at 2-2.
Two innings later, the bats came alive. With runners on first and second after Son Ho-young singled to left and Na Seung-yeop walked, Yoon Dong-hee hit a three-run home run (No. 8 of the season) over the left-field bleachers for a 110-meter (5-2) lead.
Uninvited ‘showers’ at home run show…56-minute rain delay, more shaky pitching for both teams
The game was suspended for 56 minutes due to sudden heavy rain.
In the bottom of the second inning, leadoff hitter Son Sung-bin stepped to the plate. With the count 2-2, the rain drops suddenly became thicker and drenched the field. The umpires decided it would be difficult to continue the game and called a rain delay. The game was suspended at 7:09 p.m. and resumed at 8:05 p.m.
The starting pitchers of both teams, Lotte Kim Jin-wook and NC Lee Jae-hak, had to cool their heels. Lotte capitalized in the bottom of the second 카지노 커뮤니티 inning. After a one-out walk, Hwang Sung-bin and Ko Seung-min singled to put runners on first and third. Jeon Jun-woo then hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-2.
Kim Jin-wook also seemed to lose his groove in the top of the third inning. He got off to a shaky start by allowing a leadoff walk to Park Min-woo. He struck out Seo Ho-cheol on a swinging strikeout, but gave up a single to Davidson and a walk to Kwon Hee-dong to put runners on first and second with one out. He then gave up an RBI single to Kim Hwijip to make it 6-3. He then handed the baton to reliever Park Jin to close out the game. Park got Kim Sung-wook to hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, but gave up a run to make it 6-4.
The back-and-forth continued. Lotte made it 7-4 in the bottom of the inning when Son Ho-young singled to left and Na Seung-yeop doubled to center. With the bases loaded, Yoon Dong-hee singled and Park Seung-wook grounded out to the first baseman to put runners on second and third. Son Sung-bin made it 8-4 with a sacrifice fly, and after Hwang Sung-bin stole second and third after a walk, Ko Seung-min doubled to center field to extend the lead to 10-4.
Lotte scored one run in the top of the fourth inning on back-to-back doubles by Kim Joo-won and Park Min-woo to make it 10-5.
Lotte’s unrelenting firepower…’power of the bats’ helped them defeat NC
In the middle of the game, Lotte used the power of its batting lineup to drive a wedge into the win.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, leadoff hitter Yoon Dong-hee and Park Seung-wook singled to put runners on second and third with no outs. Son Sung-bin then hit a four-seam fastball from Shin Sang-hyun for a 135-meter three-run home run (his fourth of the season) over the left field fence to make it 13-5. After a walk to Hwang Sung-bin and a single to left by Ko Seung-min, the bases were loaded with no outs when Jeon Jun-woo grounded out to shortstop to make it 14-5.
Lotte got on the board in the top of the sixth inning when Jin Hae-soo singled to right off Park Min-woo, and then substitute pitcher Koo Seung-min singled to left off Seo Ho-cheol. Hwang Sung-bin then reached on a fielding error to put runners on first and third. Davidson then hit a line drive that Jang Doo-sung made a sliding catch to change the outcome and the score. It was 14-6.
In the top of the ninth, Hyun Do-hoon came on to pitch and gave up a single to Park Young-bin. The score was 14-7, but the team retired the next batter to end the game.
Lotte vs NC: Who did well and who didn’t?
Both Lotte and NC’s starting pitchers took the mound early in the day, as they battled rain delays and other adverse conditions.
For Lotte, Kim Jin-wook started and gave up four runs on four hits (one home run) with three strikeouts and three walks in 2⅓ innings. He was followed by Park Jin (one run in one inning), Han Hyun-hee (one run in one inning), Jin Hae-soo (one run in one inning), Koo Seung-min (one run in 1⅔ innings), Song Jae-young (one run in one inning), and Hyun Do-hoon (one run in one inning).
At the plate, Go Seung-min and Son Sung-bin led the way with four hits, including a home run. Go set a new career-high for hits in a single game with five. Son Sung-bin broke the record for most RBI in a single game. Yoon Dong-hee energized the offense with three hits, including a home run.
For NC, starter Lee Jae-hak gave up nine runs on eight hits (two home runs) with two walks and two strikeouts in two innings. The relievers were Lee Joon-ho (one run in one inning), Lim Sang-hyun (four runs in two innings), Kim Min-kyu (one run in one inning), Jeon Ru-gun (one run in one inning), Son Ju-hwan (one run in ⅔ innings), and Lee Yong-chan (one run in ⅓ innings).
At the plate, Davidson had three hits with a home run and a sacrifice fly. Park Min-woo had three hits and Seo Ho-cheol, Davidson, Kim Hwi-jip, and Kim Joo-won had multi-hit games, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the loss.
