Forget 12 consecutive losses! Kim Tae-hyung's man Park Chan-hyung also has three hits and a fire bat → Na Kyun-an's third win in 68 days...Lotte and KT are in fourth place alone.
Aug 26, 2025
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Lotte won the 14th game of the season against the KT Wiz at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 26th by one point after a close game. It is Lotte's revival that cheered 16,116 Busan fans who visited the site.
With the victory, Lotte became the third team among the 10 professional baseball teams to win 60 games (5 draws and 57 losses) after the LG Twins and Hanwha Eagles. It pushed KT, which was tied for fourth place, down one step. In his opponent with KT, he maintained an absolute advantage of seven wins, two draws and four losses.
Despite suffering a nightmare of 12 consecutive losses earlier, Lotte maintained a 50% winning rate that was 'the Maginot Line'. Now is the time to reflect on the initial commitment and regain the lost points. Na Kyun-an's sense of stability announced the departure.
On the other hand, KT failed to continue its three-game sweep against the Doosan Bears over the weekend. He lost for the 58th time (59 wins and 4 draws), and was thrown back into the middle of the mid-range at the entrance of the top-ranked leap, as well as the crisis of a 50% winning rate.
On this day, Lotte was in the lineup of Park Chan-hyung (3rd base), Son Ho-young (2nd base), Ko Seung-min (2nd base), Reyes (designated hitter), Yoo Kang-nam (catcher), Na Seung-yeop (1st base), Lee Ho-joon (striker), Jang Doo-sung (midfielder), and Hwang Sung-bin (left fielder). The starting pitcher is Na Kyun-an.
KT faced off with Heo Kyung-min (3rd base), Kim Min-hyuk (left wing), Ahn Hyun-min (right wing), Kang Baek-ho (designated hitter), Kim Sang-soo (second base), Hwang Jae-gyun (first base), Jang Sung-woo (catcher), Stephenson (midfielder), and Jang Jun-won (striker). Oh Won-seok will be selected.
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KT manager Lee Kang-chul explained about starting pitcher So Hyung-joon (24)'s cancellation of the first team, saying, `We have completed the innings we planned before the season (130 innings), and we have decided to skip the rotation once because the recovery is slow.' He explained that it is difficult to take the mound against the Suwon KIA Tigers on the 30th, and that he will play against KIA in Gwangju on the 5th by applying a 10-day rotation during the remaining period. The inning limit was extended to 140 innings.
On this day, Lotte scored the first run with Ko Seung-min's timely hit in the top of the first inning with one out and second base made by leadoff Park Chan-hyung's double.
However, he was shaken by allowing two runs right away in the top of the second inning. KT leadoff hitter Kim Sang-soo's hit and Stephenson's double followed after two outs, making it second and third bases with two outs. Here, Jang Joon-won's two-run timely hit was made.
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And Na Kyun-an's presence, who regained her composure, stood out. In the third and fourth innings, he returned the opponent's top batting line to three-way withdrawal.
In the meantime, Lotte's counterattack took place. After one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, Yoo Kang-nam's hit and Na Seung-yeop's walk followed by Lee Ho-joon's RBI double to turn it over 3-2. It was regrettable that Jang Doo-sung's well-hit ball was sucked into KT third baseman Huh Kyung-min's glove and hit straight.
However, Lotte took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with leadoff Park Chan-hyung hitting again, Ko Seung-min's timely hit and KT right fielder Ahn Hyun-min's error added to add another point.
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Closer Kim Won-joong was in the final crisis in the top of the ninth inning. After one out, Kim Sa-soo got on base with a missed hit, and he ran to third base during a wild pitch, making it one out and third base. The next batter, Hwang Jae-kyun, homered when he saw the infield ground, and KT followed by a 1-point gap. However, Kim Won-joong struck out KT Jang Sung-woo and ended the game with a hard time. KT starter Oh Won-seok also pitched hard with eight hits and four runs until the sixth inning, but became a losing pitcher due to the silence of the lineup, which had only five hits.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.