The Lotte Giants won their final home game of the season. Despite not playing fall baseball for six consecutive seasons, the Giants still managed to win their final home game of the season.
Lotte won 14-3 against the Doosan Bears at Sajik Stadium on Nov. 11, with Park Se-woong pitching six innings of three-run ball and a batting lineup that pounded out 17 hits, including a solo shot by Yoo Kang-nam.
Doosan, which is in the thick of the race to qualify for the fall baseball season, was swept by Lotte. The star of the day for the Lotte bats was Kim Min-seok.
He started in center field and batted eighth on the day and went 4-for-6 with two RBIs. While he didn’t break his career high for hits in a single game, it was his second four-hit game since July 22 against the Kiwoom Heroes at the same venue (5-for-4).
Kim also reached the 100-hit plateau for the season. He became the eighth KBO high school rookie from a pharmacy school to reach the milestone. The first in the KBO was Kim Jae-hyun (LG Twins, 1994), followed by Lee Seung-yeop (Samsung Lions, 1995), Park Jin-man (Hyundai Unicorns, 1996), Jung Sung-hoon (Hyundai, 1999), Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom Heroes, 2017), and Moon Hyun-bin (Hanwha Eagles) before Kim this season.
“I think I reached 100 hits because former manager Larry Sutton, acting manager Lee Jong-woon, and the coaching staff believed in me and played me consistently,” Kim said in an interview with the media after the game. “I still have a lot of games to play, but it’s meaningful that I went through the season without getting injured.”
“It seems like just yesterday that we played our home opener, but I can already see the end. It seems like a really long season has passed quickly,” he said, “I lacked a lot this season. Honestly, I felt a lot of things while playing,” he said, reflecting on his debut season.
“I think we need to make up for what we lacked this season in the final camp and next year’s spring camp,” he said, emphasizing, “We will show even more improvement.”
Lee also congratulated Kim Min-seok on his 100th hit. “It’s really something to celebrate,” he said, “I hope (Kim) will grow well in the future and become a top-class player representing not only our team but also the KBO League.”
Lee also commented on the fans who attended the final home game of the season. “We are grateful for the support from the fans who came to the stadium,” Lee said, adding, “All the players will remember the fans’ passionate messages of support.”
Lotte will next travel to Gwangju. They are scheduled to play the KIA Tigers at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on April 12. Woo Kang-hoon (LOTTE) and Mario Sanchez (KIA) are expected to start the game. LOTTE will take a day off after the game against KIA 토토사이트 before closing out the season with a three-game series against the Hanwha Eagles at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on April 14-16.
The Dusun squad traveled to Seoul immediately after the Lotte game. On the 12th, the Dusuns will take on the NC Dinos at Jamsil Stadium. Jang Won-jun (Doosan) and Lee Jae-hak (NC) will be the starting pitchers.