Not like Kim Tae-hyung, hesitating about the outcome? There was a reason...As it turns out, you can't finish it.
Jul 09, 2025
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In the eighth inning with a 5-3 lead, there was a hesitation that was not like head coach Kim Tae-hyung. The hesitation was directly linked to defeat.
Lotte lost the game 5-8 in the first game of the final series of the first half against the Doosan Bears at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 8th.
Jang Doo-sung (infield hit), Han Tae-yang (double), Park Chan-hyung (triple) and Reyes (home run) pushed against Choi Min-seok in the bottom of the fifth inning, showing their concentration by winning four points at once. It was also impressive that Hong Min-ki, a surprise starter, pitched well with one run in five innings with a maximum 153km fastball.
Doosan continued to chase with Oh Myung-jin's home run, but Lotte added one more run due to the opponent's error in the bottom of the seventh inning, leading 5-3 and on the verge of victory.
However, the bullpen was shaken. Chung Hyun-soo and Kim Kang-hyun barely finished the seventh inning by spending even Chung Chul-won as they failed to fill one inning.
Therefore, I had a concern ahead of the eighth inning. It was too much to entrust Jeong Cheol-won, who pitched one ⅔ inning two days ago, to multi-inning again.
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A Lotte official said "Kim Won-joong was examined for shoulder pain and discomfort. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong, but today he was out of the rest group not taking the mound", he explained.
In the end, at least two outs in the eighth inning were needed to put in Choi Joon-yong. But there was no pitcher to hold the two outs. It was the moment when it was revealed how close Lotte's top three runs were this season.
Koo Seung-min, who took the mound in the eighth inning, walked to Doosan's Jung Soo-bin, and Kim Jin-wook, who followed, was hit by Doosan Cave with a superior two-run shot. It was also a moment when the flow of the game fluctuated and Hong Min-ki's first victory was erased.
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However, left-handed hitters who hit clean-up trios, especially foreign players, tend to prefer lower-body balls than far-flung strike zones outside. This is because they know how to swing when they need a long shot. Earlier, Reyes' home run also hit Choi Min-seok's 132km sweeper slightly off the strike zone, which landed on the low course of the body.
After the tie, the flow of the game rapidly leaned toward Doosan. Lotte put in veteran Kim Sang-soo, but Doosan turned the game around with Park Gye-beom hitting a two-run timely hit with one out and the bases loaded with Kim Jae-hwan's hit, Park Joon-soon's double and Oh Myung-jin's intentional four pitches. Cave hit a wedge in the top of the ninth inning with consecutive home runs, and Lotte failed to regain its lead and fell to third place.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.