The coach’s wish to make the team win at the final home match of the 2024 season failed to come true. He bowed his head after suffering the worst defeat this year.먹튀검증
The Lotte Giants lost 8-12 in Game 16 between the teams against the KIA Tigers of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 28th. It failed to continue its momentum of beating the NC Dinos 13-6 on the 27th.
Lotte was the last home game of the 2024 season against KIA on this day. Although the final regular league match against NC remains in Changwon on October 1, the team prepared the game with the determination to give victory to its home fans because they have to say goodbye for a while before the opening of next season.
Before the game, Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung said, “Today is not much different from other games,” but added, “I want to win and say hello to the fans. It’s better to win and finish the final home game of the season.”
Lotte got off to a good start to the game. The ace pitcher Charlie Barnes effectively blocked Kia’s batters until the fifth inning. Except for the top of the second inning with no outs in the top of the first inning, runners on first base in the third inning, one out in the top of the fourth inning, and no outs in the top of the fifth inning, but they did not allow any runs.
Lotte’s batters also gained strength. Leading hitter Jeon Joon-woo’s walk to the base in the bottom of the fourth inning, and Yoon Dong-hee’s hit to the right after one out, followed by Park Seung-wook’s timely RBI and pinch hitter Jung Hoon’s timely RBI. Leading 2-0, he took the lead.
Lotte’s batters scored additional runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Leading hitter Lee Ho-joon’s triple and Son Ho-young’s walk brought runners together, and Jeon Joon-woo’s timely RBI and Na Seung-yeop’s three-run homerun tied the score to make it 6-0. Considering the flow of the game, Lotte seemed to have a strong chance to win.
However, the game became strange to Lotte when Barnes suddenly showed turbulence in the top of the sixth inning. Barnes gave up consecutive hits to leadoff hitters Kim Doo-hyun and Kim Do-young before hitting a timely RBI single to Yoon Do-hyun. With no outs and runners on the first and third bases continuously, Barnes also gave up a timely RBI single to Park, narrowing the gap to 6-2.
Barnes struck out Lee Woo-sung and took a breather, but after one out, Lee Chang-jin was allowed to make a timely RBI, and Lotte was chased to 6-3. The pitcher was replaced quickly by Koo Seung-min, but even Koo Seung-min had a two-run double by Byun Woo-hyuk, making the lead 6-5 in an instant.
The Lotte bench again threw a game-winner to replace the pitcher. It was hoped that Na Kyun-an would put out the urgent fire, but the result fell short of expectations. Na Kyun-an also gave up a timely RBI single to Seo Geon-chang, making it a tie at 6-6.
Lotte took an 8-6 lead again in the bottom of the sixth inning with Lee Ho-joon’s two-run double at the first and second bases chance with no outs. It was expected that if the must-win team was put in from the top of the seventh inning, it would be able to beat KIA’s pursuit and keep the victory.
However, the bullpen completely collapsed in the top of the seventh inning. When Na Kyun-an was hit by Park Chan-ho with one out, the Lotte bench put in left-hander Chung Hyeon-su, but even gave up a hit to right-handed Park Jung-woo. Taking the mound with runners on the first and third bases with one out, Jin aggravated the situation with Lee Chang-jin on base by walking.
Jin committed a point to KIA by allowing the follow-up hitter Byun Woo-hyuk to walk to the base. When Jin showed remarkable difficulty in controlling the ball, the Lotte bench replaced the pitcher with left-hander Song Jae-young. Song first caught Choi Won-joon with a fly ball to the left field and exchanged scores for an out count.
Song tied the game 8-8, with two outs and runners on the first and second bases. It seemed as if the inning would end as it was when he induced Seo to swing and miss with a high fastball on the fifth pitch of a two-ball-to-strike.
However, Song Jae-young’s fifth pitch became a strike-out wild pitch, continuing the crisis of losing the bases with two outs. The Lotte bench has no choice but to replace a pitcher once again.
The score was overturned to 8-10, as Jung Woo-joon, who took the mound after Song Jae-young, gave up consecutive walks to Han Seung-taek and Kim Do-young. Lotte changed its pitcher to Lee Min-seok to prevent additional runs, but Lee Min-seok’s two-run timely hit by Yoon Do-hyun effectively completely lost the victory.
Lotte did not receive an invitation for the fall baseball this year as well. It has received the dismal report that it failed to advance to the post season for the seventh consecutive year. On top of that, Lotte could not raise its head due to its “self-destruction” play, which was not the beauty of the end of the game at home.