The Lotte Giants have won three straight games behind a strong performance from starter Han Hyun-hee and veteran Jeon Jun-woo.
Lotte improved to 62-67 (.481) with a 9-1 win in the 13th game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the Hanwha Eagles at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on Monday. It also confirmed their dominance over Hanwha this season regardless of the three remaining meetings. Hanwha, on the other hand, lost for the second straight day, dropping to 53-67-0 (0.421) and dropping one spot in the standings from eighth to ninth.
Hanwha’s lineup was Choi In-ho (left field), Moon Hyun-bin (second base), Chae Eun-sung (designated hitter), Nick Williams (right field), Kim In-hwan (first base), Oh Sun-jin (third base), Lee Jin-young (center field), Park Sang-un (catcher), and Lee Do-yoon (shortstop). The starting pitcher was Han Seung-ju.
Lotte’s lineup was Kim Min-seok (center field), Ahn Kwon-soo (right field), Lee Jeong-hoon (designated hitter), Jeon Jun-woo (center field), Jeong-hoon (first base), Nico Goodrum (third base), Yoo Kang-nam (catcher), Noh Jin-hyuk (shortstop), and Park Seung-wook (second base). Han Hyun-hee started on the mound.
Han was the first team to strike first. In the top of the first inning, Moon Hyun-bin and Chae Eun-sung walked and struck out, respectively, but after Chae stole second base on a groundout, Choi In-ho came home on Williams’ single to left to give the team the lead.
Lotte responded immediately. In the bottom of the first inning, tablesetter Kim Min-seok and Ahn Kwon-soo led off with a double and a single, respectively, and Lee Jung-hoon brought Kim home with a sacrifice fly. With one out, Jeon Jun-woo singled to center field to bring in Ahn Kwon-soo.
With two outs, Jung-hoon hit a fly ball to center field, but Goodrum singled to right field to score Jeon from second. A throwing error by right fielder Williams allowed Goodrum to reach second base. That’s when LOTTE completed the big inning.
Hanwha brought in Yoon Dae-kyung to start the bottom of the second and immediately handed the mound over to the bullpen. The team leaned on its veteran pitchers, sending up Jang Si-hwan, Jung Woo-ram, and Jang Min-jae in the middle innings. As a result, Hanwha maintained a two-run lead until the bottom of the fifth inning without scoring another run.
The problem was the bats. Hanwha’s bats were tied to Han Hyun-hee and remained silent after the top of the second inning. The top of the fifth and sixth innings ended with back-to-back triple plays.
Like Hanwha, Lotte, which was unable to score after the second inning, began supporting Han Hyun-hee, who fulfilled the requirements of a winning pitcher and a quality start. In the bottom of the sixth inning, when Hanwha switched pitchers from Jang Si-hwan to Kim Bum-soo, Lotte loaded the bases with a walk and an error before Ahn Kwon-soo singled with runners on first and third. Jeon Jun-woo followed with an RBI single in the second inning to extend the gap to four runs.
In the bottom of the seventh, Jang Doo-seong and Ahn Kwon-soo hit back-to-back RBI singles with runners on first and second to seal the win, and Lee Hak-joo hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. Lotte’s bullpen of Shin Jeong-rak, Shin Jin-ha, and Choi Young-hwan held off Hanwha’s late rally to complete the three-game sweep.스포츠토토
Han Hyun-hee, who made his first quality start in four months since May 30 against Jamsil LG Electronics (six innings, two earned runs), picked up his sixth win of the season, 43 days after his last against SSG in Busan on May 17, while at the plate, Jeon Jun-woo went 4-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and one run scored. Ahn Kwon-soo also contributed to the victory with a 5-for-3 performance with two RBIs and a run scored.
Hanwha was held to one run and had to settle for the loss as their bats could not wake up in the end. They used eight pitchers, including starter Han Seung-ju, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Lotte bats.
Pitching performances for both teams.
-Hanwha: Han Seung-ju (20 pitches, 1 inning, 4 hits, no walks, 3 runs)-Yoon Dae-kyung (25 pitches, 2 innings, 1 hit, no walks, 2 strikeouts)-Jang Si-hwan (21 pitches, 1 inning, 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout)-Jung Woo-ram (15 pitches, ⅓ inning, 2 hits, no walks, 1 strikeout)-Jang Min-jae (9 pitches, ⅔ innings, no hits, no walks, 2 strikeouts)-Kim Bum-soo (18 pitches, ⅔ innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 2 runs, unearned)-Ryu Hee-woon (24 pitches, 1⅓ innings, 4 hits, no walks, 1 strikeout, 2 runs)-Park Yoon-cheol (19 pitches, 1 inning, 2 hits, no walks, 1 strikeout, 2 runs).
-LOTTE: Han Hyun-hee (88 pitches, 6 innings, 4 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 1 run)-Shin Jeong-rak (19 pitches, 1 inning, 1 hit, no walks, 1 strikeout)-Lee Jin-ha (10 pitches, 1 hit, no walks)-Choi Young-hwan (11 pitches, 1 hit, no walks, no strikeouts)