Two big innings in the first and eighth innings put the game out of reach. The Samsung Lions won the first game of a three-game weekend series away from home.
The Lions defeated the Lotte Giants 11-5 on Thursday at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, South Korea, in the first game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League regular season series.
Avenging a loss the day before, Samsung improved its season record to 28-21-1 with a 0.571 winning percentage. They moved into sole possession of third place, dropping the third-place NC Dinos, who lost the same day’s game, to fourth. The gap between the leaders, the KIA Tigers and Doosan Bears, has narrowed to one game.
Lotte, on the other hand, which swept a three-game midweek series with KIA, was unable to keep the momentum going and failed to reach the 20-win plateau. They also slipped back to 10th place, one day after escaping the bottom of the standings.
Samsung jumped out to an early lead, scoring five runs in the first inning off starter Na Gyun-an. Although they were able to cut the deficit to one run at one point due to some unforced errors, they regained the lead with a decisive two-run sixth inning. At the plate, Ryu Ji-hyuk had a three-hit game, scoring whenever he needed to, while Kim Young-woong at No. 4 showed patience by drawing five walks.
Lotte had a tough start to the game as starter Na Kyun-ahn gave up five runs in the first inning. After being held scoreless until the fifth inning, they rallied, including a three-run home run by Hwang Sung-bin. However, a run in the sixth inning with the bases loaded proved to be too much.
Lotte started with Hwang Sung-bin (center fielder), Ko Seung-min (second baseman), Yoon Dong-hee (right fielder), Victor Reyes (designated hitter), Na Seung-yeop (first baseman), Park Seung-wook (third baseman), Kim Min-seok (left fielder), Jung Geun-geun (catcher), and Lee Hak-joo (shortstop). Go Seung-min and Yoon Dong-hee switched places in the table-setting order, with Park Seung-wook at third base and Kim Min-seok in left field. In addition, Yoo Kang-nam, who hit a home run the previous day, came off the bench to rest.
Samsung’s starting lineup was Koo Ja-uk (designated hitter), Kim Ji-chan (center field), David McKinnon (first base), Kim Young-woong (third base), Ryu Ji-hyeok (second base), Lee Jae-hyun (shortstop), Kim Heon-gon (left field), Kang Min-ho (catcher), and 스포츠토토 Kim Jae-hyeok (right field). Kim Jae-hyuk, who was promoted to the first team, started in right field, while Koo Ja-uk was the designated hitter.
Samsung came out firing in the top of the first inning. After the first batter, Koo Ja-uk, struck out, Kim Ji-chan led off with a single to right. After McKinnon and Kim loaded the bases with singles, Samsung took the lead when Ryu Ji-hyuk grounded out to shortstop, leaving only McKinnon at second base.
Samsung’s offense didn’t stop there. After Lee Jae-hyun singled to right to score one more run, Samsung extended the lead to 5-0 with back-to-back doubles by Kim Heon-gon and Kang Min-ho. However, Kang Min-ho felt pain in his ankle while batting and was replaced by Lee Byung-heon.
Still, Lotte quickly rallied. In the bottom of the second inning, Na Seung-yeop tripled with one out. The next batter, Park Seung-wook, took a wild pitch and lined a single to right to bring in a run, but with runners on first and second after a walk to Kim Min-seok, Lee Jung-geun hit a well-struck ball in front of the shortstop to end the inning.
Lotte continued to chip away at the deficit. In the bottom of the third, Lee Hak-joo led off with a single to center field before Hwang Sung-bin hit his fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot over the right-field fence. It was a sharp home run with a distance of 110 meters and a bat speed of 156.5 kilometers per hour.
Lotte didn’t stop there, though, as they pulled within one in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Hwang Sung-bin singled, Yoon Dong-hee walked, and Reyes 메이저사이트 reached on an error by the shortstop, Lotte loaded the bases. Samsung pulled Reyes and brought in Lee Seung-hyun to start the inning. Na Seung-yup hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-5, but the next batter, Park Seung-wook, struck out to end the inning.
The failure to keep up when they needed to was costly. Samsung took advantage in the top of the sixth inning, which started after the cleanup. After a leadoff single by Koo Ja-rook, Kim Ji-chan singled and Kim Young-woong walked to load the bases. Then, No. 5 Ryu Ji-hyeok lined a single to right field off reliever Koo Seung-min to load the bases.
Samsung then came up big again in the top of the eighth inning to secure the win. After a leadoff walk, McKinnon’s hard-hit line drive found the glove of shortstop Lee Hak-joo, but the throw to first was high and out. A wild pitch from Lotte pitcher Hong Min-ki then allowed Kim Young-woong to walk for his fifth hit of the game, and Ryu Ji-hyuk’s grounder to second baseman Ko Seung-min was not handled properly, setting up a bases-loaded situation.
Samsung responded off reliever Choi Yi-joon, as Lee Jae-hyun hit a double to left-center field to bring home McKinnon and Kim Young-woong. In the seventh, Kim Heon-gon’s infield grounder to third base threw out Ryu Ji-hyuk but put runners on second and third, and Lee Byung-heon followed with a double to right-center to extend the lead to 11-4. Lotte got an RBI single from Reyes in the top of the ninth, but it didn’t stop the momentum.