Although he has only played 8 games yet, Gu Gu-jin of the Lotte Giants continues to play an uneasy game. It is common to turn over the flow in a game that needs to be caught.
Lotte suffered an 8-12 come-from-behind loss in the home game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the LG Twins at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 12th.
Starter Park Se-woong gave up 3 runs in the 1st and 2nd innings, and Lotte turned the game around by scoring 4 points in a chance to safely load the bases at the end of the 4th inning. However, in the beginning of the 7th inning, the team’s second pitcher, Kim Do-gyu, gave up a run with a walk and a hit, and Austin Dean’s sacrifice fly from the 1st out and 3rd base allowed the team to turn 4-5.토스카지노
At the end of the 8th inning, Lotte quickly overturned the score to 7:5 as Ko Seung-min’s three-run home run broke out. There were three outcounts left until victory, but Lotte eventually melted away without being able to protect it.
Lotte put finisher Kim Won-joong on the mound in the top of the 9th inning. He struck out the first batter, pinch hitter Song Chan-eui, and was hit by a triple from No. 1 Hong Chang-gi, and allowed Moon Seong-joo, the next hitter, to hit in front of the center fielder and was chased by one point. Then, in a situation where the runner Shin Min-jae stole the first base and second base, the forkball thrown to Kim Hyun-su at number 3 did not fall properly and hit a come-from-behind two-run home run.
Kim Won-joong was replaced only after being hit by Austin, the next batter. Afterwards, Lotte scored Lee Tae-yeon and Choi Yeong-hwan in succession, but with Seo Kun-chang’s 3 RBI double in the right field and Song Chan-eui’s 1 RBI double in the left center, they contributed 7 runs only in the beginning of the ninth inning.
At the end of the game on the 12th, Lotte’s salvation average ERA soared to 8.89. It is a figure that is far different from the league average (3.92) or the first SSG (0.65), as well as the 9th place Kiwoom (5.97). It’s very early in the season, but it’s shaking too much. During this period, there were only two games in which the Lotte bullpen did not score.
Lotte had already lost all the victories since the first match, with Guo Gu-jin swaying. Lotte, who had been leading 8-3 until the beginning of the 7th inning against Doosan in Jamsil on the 1st, allowed 5 runs at the end of the 7th inning with Kim Jae-hwan’s 3-run home run. In the beginning of the 11th inning, Jack Rex’s timely hit took a one-run lead, but in the end, Jose Rojas hit a 3-run homer to end the game and lost 10-12.
In a situation where Choi Jun-yong, who earned 14 saves last year, is not in good shape, Lotte has no choice but to put a lot of pressure on Koo Seung-min and Kim Won-joong. Both players played multiple innings in the game on the 11th (Seung-min Koo 1⅔ innings, Won-joong Kim 1⅓ innings). After throwing 24 pitches, Kim Won-joong started to fight, and eventually collapsed. Kim Do-gyu, who allowed a reversal in the 7th inning, was also in a situation where he threw 14 pitches in ⅔ innings the day before. In the beginning, the winning team may be exhausted.
In addition, Lee Tae-yeon, a rookie high school graduate, is struggling by appearing in 6 out of 8 games played by the team. It can be said that the current address of the Lotte bullpen is that a 19-year-old first-year player has no choice but to continue to be used in the bullpen, regardless of grades.
Of course, Lotte is not giving up either. Prior to the game on the 12th, Lotte called up veteran bullpen Yoon Myeong-jun in place of outfielder Hwang Seong-bin, who left due to a microfracture in his finger. Manager Larry Sutton said, “It is to strengthen the depth of the bullpen. It was decided because several pitchers have been fighting recently.” Sidearm Shin Jeong-rak, who was recruited this year, is showing signs of improving recently.
However, in this game, Lotte could not keep the lead even though 7 relief pitchers were on the mound. From the beginning, I was forced into a situation where I had to reverse the atmosphere so that the atmosphere would not sink.