‘When Kim Sang-soo faltered on the mound, the Giants’ mound faltered’ The loss to the Chinjung team stung even more because it was their first loss of the season.
The Lotte Giants, who were on the verge of a three-game sweep over the weekend, fell victim to a mound collapse in the eighth inning.
The game between the Kiwoom Heroes and the Lotte Giants was played at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 28th. Lotte starter Na Gyun-an had pitched a six-inning, one-run quality start (no more than three earned runs in six or more innings of work), but the bats scored five runs to give Lotte a 5-1 lead.
Kim Do-gyu took over the mound in the seventh and faced runners on first and third, but left-hander Kim Jin-wook got out of the inning after allowing only a single to Kim Hye-sung.
The eighth inning was the problem. Kim Sang-soo came to the mound to end the inning, but failed. It was 5-2 with three runs on the board. Kim Sang-soo, who threw a no-hitter against Kiwoom on the first day, started with a single to Russell, the first batter. He was followed by Lim Byung-wook and Lee Won-seok with consecutive singles to load the bases. Kim gave up an RBI sacrifice fly to Kim Dong-heon. In the ensuing at-bat, Kim Hwijip’s mis-hit ball dropped between second and right field to put runners on the corners again, prompting Sutton to remove Kim and bring in Yoon Myung-joon.
LOTTE’s Yoon Myung-jun looks at the ball hit by Lim Ji-yeol in the bottom of the second inning: “Please…
With the bases loaded and Kim Sang-soo at the plate, Yoon took the mound and struck out Lee Hyung-jong on three pitches to put out the fire. After matching Lim Ji-yeol with three changeups to put runners at 2B and 1S, Yoon threw a fastball for the first time in four pitches. It was a 138-kilometer fastball to center field, and Lim turned his bat as if he had been waiting for it.
The ball hit the center of the bat and landed in the deepest part of the Gocheok Sky Dome for the game-winning run. Kim Sang-soo’s expression darkened as he watched the game from the dugout, hoping for a save. Kim Sang-soo, who had a 1-0 record with a 2.00 ERA in three appearances against Kiwoom before this game, suffered his first loss of the season.안전놀이터
LOTTE attacks in the ninth inning. Kim Sang-soo was applauding every pitch and hoping for a comeback, but he was unable to pull off the upset as Kiwoom right fielder Park Jun-tae caught Yoo Kang-nam’s fly ball with runners on first and second.
In his first trip to his hometown in a Lotte uniform, Kim Sang-soo had to taste the bitterness of his first loss of the season.