The Lotte Giants dropped a game they shouldn’t have on Friday.
Lotte lost 6-9 in 10 extra innings at Sajik SSG on May 5. It snapped a four-game winning streak and was their third straight loss. Before the 10th inning, Lotte had the lead and had plenty of control over the game.
However, a single error in the fifth inning changed the game. Trailing 5-3, the bases were loaded in the top of the fifth inning. Lotte pulled starter Han Hyun-hee early and brought in Shim Jae-min and Kim Sang-soo to try to close out the fifth inning.
And it seemed to pay off. With one out in the fifth, Kim induced pinch-hitter Kim Kang-min to hit a slow grounder to the third baseman. Third baseman Han Dong-hee caught the ball as it rolled toward the base and casually stepped on the base. The runner at second was out. The third baseman then threw home to prevent the runner from rushing home, but the catcher, Information Geun, caught the throw and didn’t tag the runner. Since the runner on second was out first, the runner in front of third had to be tagged out in order to be out. However, he didn’t realize that the situation had changed to a tag out.
The inning should have ended at 5-3, but it became 5-4, keeping SSG’s momentum alive. From there, the game went back and forth before they lost the game.
Before Game 6, Sutton replayed the fifth inning of the previous day’s game. “We had a ground ball to Dong-hee Han and she took third base and threw it home. Normally, in a situation like that, the third baseman would take third and throw to first. However, Han’s judgment was that the ground ball was slow and she thought it was an effective home run, so she threw it home,” he explained.
“The moment I caught it, I naturally stepped on third base, but at that moment, I didn’t see Han Dong-hee step on third base. It was a mistake,” he added.
“When you’re playing defense, you have to be aware of the batter’s strength and the strength of the runners in scoring position. And at the moment the play is made, you have to calculate the speed of the bat and make a decision,” he said, commenting on Han Dong-hee’s choice.
On the other hand, in the situation where Choi Joo-hwan’s line drive to left field was missed by the left fielder Yoon Dong-hee while chasing down the ball, prior to the tagging mistake by Lee Jung-geun, “Yoon Dong-hee’s defensive position was biased towards the left-center field. I had a good pitch and a good start, but my quadriceps (quad) is tight and not good right now. My legs were tired and I didn’t hit the ball as well as I should have,” he explained.메이저놀이터
Naturally, the skipper was disappointed with his performance the day before. “After the game, I had a nice dinner with my family. “I took my mind off baseball for a while,” he says, “but before I went to sleep, I kept thinking about yesterday’s game. I couldn’t sleep.”
Aaron Wilkerson will take the mound for Lotte as they look to prevent a series sweep. Kim Min-seok (center field), Nico Goodrum (third base), Jeong Hoon (first base), Ahn Chi-hong (second base), Jeon Jun-woo (left field), Han Dong-hee (designated hitter), Ko Seung-min (right field), Son Sung-bin (catcher), and Lee Hak-joo (shortstop) are the starting lineup.