“I reset in the 2nd division, and now I’m ready.”
Even expectations for staffing have collapsed. Lotte Giants in crisis. Is there a solution to the shocking come-from-behind defeat?메이저놀이터
Lotte suffered an incredible loss against SSG Landers in Incheon on the 17th. With the score of the batters who broke out early in the game and starting pitcher Park Se-woong’s 7 innings and 1 run, Lotte led 5-1 until the beginning of the 8th inning. On the other hand, the SSG lineup was completely blocked. The flow of the game was already flowing in the direction of Lotte, and SSG was losing.
However, in the bottom of the 8th inning, a great twist occurred. Park Se-woong blocked it until the end of the 7th inning, and as soon as he went down, he started the bullpen, and those bullpens collapsed one after another. Starting with Kim Jin-wook at the end of the 8th inning, Koo Seung-min and Kim Won-joong took the mound in order, but three pitchers conceded runs in succession. The trouble was a walk. Runners piled up with walks, and SSG took the flow while allowing points with pushes.
Finisher Kim Won-joong took the mound with two outs, but in the end, he allowed a timely hit to sweep the bases full, throwing the worst pitch since the opening of this season. Lotte defended 7 innings with 1 run by Park Se-woong alone, but 4 pitchers collapsed with 7 runs in the remaining 1 inning. 4 losses in a row with this defeat. It was a game that showed Lotte’s overall difficulty recently.
Prior to the game, Lotte changed the batting order due to Jung Hoon’s side injury. Ko Seung-min scrambled as the first hitter of the season, and the change in batting order had some effect as he succeeded in getting on base 4 times with 1 hit and 3 walks. But this time the bullpen was the problem. While calling up Kim Jin-wook and Kim Sang-soo before the game, coach Larry Sutton expressed his anticipation, saying, “They reset in the 2nd team, and now they are ready.”
Lotte, who fell into a losing streak, was confirmed for the 4th consecutive ‘Losing Series’. Now, even the fourth place is at stake. The momentum of Lotte, which had risen to the top, has completely disappeared. In a situation where the batting line was stagnant as a whole, even the bullpen collapsed, and the strengths of the early season are not visible at all.