Lotte wraps up its home finale with a win over a road-bound Doosan.
Lotte won 14-3 at home against Doosan on Nov. 11 at Sajik Stadium in Busan. Lotte, which was eliminated from the postseason the day before with a 0-7 loss to LG in Jamsil, had something to smile about in its final game of the season in front of its home crowd.
Conversely, fifth-ranked Doosan, which is battling NC and SSG for the third spot with a direct ticket to the semifinals, was caught off guard by Lotte, dropping its second straight game and facing a tough road ahead.
Doosan’s Jung Soo-bin led off the first inning with a walk against Lotte starter Park Se-woong, then stole second base from Jose Rojas. With the bases loaded, Rojas lined a single to right field to bring home Jeong.
Lotte fought back. An Chi-hong led off the bottom of the first inning with a single to left field off a fastball from Choi Won-jun. A walk to Jeon Jun-woo and an RBI single by Jeong Hoon later tied the game.
Lotte kept pace with Doosan as starter Park Se-woong pitched a scoreless first inning. In the bottom of the inning, Yoo Kang-nam hit a solo shot to complete his double-digit homeruns this season, and Noh Jin-hyuk drove in another run with an RBI single.
After striking out Choi Won-jun earlier in the inning, Lotte took a four-run lead in the bottom of the third when Kim Min-seok hit a two-run double off reliever Park Shin-ji.
The fired-up LOTTE bats pounded the Doosan mound in the next inning. Doosan pulled within one run in the top of the fourth, but after back-to-back doubles by leadoff hitter Noh Jin-hyuk and Ahn Chi-hong, LOTTE scored three more runs on Jung Hoon’s single and a wild pitch.
It wasn’t over yet. After Park Se-woong was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, LOTTE pulled away again in the bottom of the sixth with a walk to Jung-hoon, a single by Yoon Dong-hee, and an RBI double by Yoo Kang-nam. Lotte scored one run in the bottom of the seventh and two more in the top of the eighth.
Lotte pounded out 17 hits, including a home run by Yoo Kang-nam, to reach double digits in runs scored. Jung-hoon and Kim Min-seok each had four hits, while Yoo Kang-nam had a team-high three RBIs.
With the win, Yoo became the 113th player in KBO history to complete 500 hits. With his 100th hit, Kim Min-seok became the eighth rookie in history to reach triple digits in hits as a high school rookie.
LOTTE starter Park Se-woong pitched six innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks before being replaced by Kim Sang-soo in the seventh to 먹튀검증 fulfill the win requirement. The LOTTE bullpen of Kim Sang-soo, Choi Jun-yong, and Kim Won-joong each pitched one inning of scoreless relief to preserve the win. Park Se-woong picked up his ninth win of the season (7-2).
In Gwangju, KIA cruised to an 11-0 win over Kiwoom behind an eight-inning no-hitter from veteran left-hander Yang Hyun-jong and a three-hit, two-RBI performance from Socrates Brito. Sixth-ranked KIA, which trails Doosan by two games after the loss, kept the flame burning for the fall baseball season.