Jung Hoon (37) of the Lotte Giants saved his team by taking the finishing hit even though he had five strikeouts alone in one game. This time, he saved Lotte by making a hit by beating the rival team ranking fifth.스포츠토토
Jung Hoon started as the sixth designated hitter in the home game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League regular season against the KT Wiz at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 4th. As Hwang Sung-bin (27), who was playing as a leadoff, fell a little, Lotte’s Jeon Joon-woo (38) and Victor Reyes (30) both played outfield, and Jung Hoon played as designated hitter.
Jeong Hoon, who was out swinging and striking out at KT starter Wes Benjamin’s throw in the first batter’s box in the second inning, created a chance against Benjamin, who met again in the bottom of the fifth inning when his team was losing 0-4. Then, with two outs, he hit a double to cut right-center field, and became the star of Lotte’s first run.
Jung Hoon also served as a stepping stone for Lotte’s big inning in the seventh inning. Lotte, which was losing by three points, followed Jeon with a double that hit the fence in the left-center field. Jung Hoon then hit a double to the right-center field in a similar course to his previous at-bat, bringing Jeon home. With the hit, Lotte followed by a one-run gap.
Since then, Jung-hoon has been replaced by pinch runner Jang Doo-sung, and Lotte tied the game 4-4 as Jang Doo-sung homered when No. 7 Na Seung-yeop made a timely hit. Since then, the score has continued, and Lotte scored as many as six points at the end of the seventh inning, and eventually managed to win 7-5 by keeping this lead to the end.
Lotte Jung-hoon hits a hit against KT in Sajik on the 4th./Photo by Lotte Giants
Jung-hoon said after the game, “I feel like I’m really trying to do it, not just me. Honestly, I don’t feel like there’s a difference even if I’m against the first place, so I think it’s a little changed to just do my best and win the rest of the game.”
Jung Hoon, who remembered the time of the big inning in the seventh inning, said, “The atmosphere of the dugout is fine if you score. All teams will be the same, but if you score, there are more players with better atmosphere and more energy than any other team. There are many players who want to get attention, so the atmosphere is impeccable.”
Earlier, Jung Hoon struck out all five at-bats in the first away game against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 1st. He set the record for the most strikeouts in a single KBO game, but he played a valuable role in scoring the team’s winning run with a timely hit to the left in the top of the 12th inning.
“It was my first time to think that I didn’t want to be a designated hitter,” Jung-hoon said. “I was okay until my second at-bat, but when I had three, four, and five (three strikeouts), I had nowhere to be.” “The coach let me go. If I didn’t come out, I think I would have been hit personally, but fortunately, the team won and I hit one, so I think I got good energy,” he said.
Lotte has now found hope for the fall baseball season by catching up with fifth-ranked KT by two games. Jung Hoon said, “I don’t know for now. I don’t know the process, but I think we have to win no matter what.” “Lotte has the most games to play. I think I have to go until the end, thinking that I am using up all my energy for a single game.”