The LG Twins defeated the Lotte Giants to start their winning streak. The 10th “El Lloracico” (a reference to the rivalry between LG and Lotte in soccer’s famous “El Clasico” derby between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona) ended with a complete victory for LG.
LG won the 10th game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against Lotte 12-3 at Sajik Stadium in Busan on April 8. With the win, LG extended its winning streak to two games and remained in first place with 49 wins, 2 draws, and 28 losses. Lotte, on the other hand, moved to 37 wins and 37 losses, back within striking distance of the five-way tiebreaker.
LG struck first. In the top of the first inning, Moon Sung-ju led off with a double. He advanced to third on Kim Hyun-soo’s grounder to second. Austin then took a four-pitch 149-kilometer fastball from Park Se-woong and hit it over the right field fence. It was the 11th Archie of the season with a bat speed of 154.3 kilometers per hour and a distance of 115 meters. It was his first home run in five games since June 30 against KIA.
Lotte responded immediately. In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff hitter Yoon Dong-hee singled to left. Jeon Jun-woo followed with an RBI double to left-center field (2-1). Ahn Chi-hong followed with a big hit to right field. Right fielder Hong Chang-ki made a sliding catch. The problem was Jeon Jun-woo. He advanced to third and was thrown out. He should have prepared for the retirement. Jun-woo Jeon’s jumble.스포츠토토
However, in the bottom of the second inning, they managed to tie the game. In the second inning, Yoo Kang-nam, Park Seung-wook, and Kim Min-seok hit three consecutive singles. 2-2.
LG was not done. They turned the game around again. In the top of the third, Moon Sung-joo drew a walk to lead off the inning. Kim Hyun-soo was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Austin pushed a pitch over the plate for an RBI single to right. 3-2.
That’s a big inning. LG would run away and Lotte would chase. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Yoo Kang-nam, who led off, took a five-pitch 125-kilometer slider from Adam Plutko over the left field fence. It traveled 125 meters at 166.7 mph. The fourth of the season, it tied the game at 3-3.
After Lotte failed to take the lead, LG made another run. In the top of the sixth inning, Oh Ji-hwan singled and Park Dong-won walked to put runners on first and second. Moon Bo-kyung followed with a single to right against Park Se-woong. Park Hae-min hit a grounder to shortstop to end the inning. Shin Min-jae stole second base to put runners on second and third, and then Shin hit a two-run double off of reliever Kim Jin-wook. The score was 6-3. Park Se-woong’s run increased to six.
LG sealed the deal in the seventh inning. They completed the big inning. Kim Hyun-soo singled, Austin walked, and with runners on first and second, Oh Ji-hwan laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners up a base. Then Park Dong-won hit a 1-2-3 double off of reliever Jung Sung-jong. It didn’t end there. Moon Bo-kyung drew a walk to put runners on first and second again, and Park Hae-min singled to score another run. Hong Chang-ki then completed the five-run rally with a two-run double to the wall against reliever Shim Jae-min. With Hong’s hit, LG had hits from all of its starters. It was the 18th of the season, the third for the team, and the 1063rd of his career. Moon Sung-joo followed with an infield single, and Son Ho-young, who was pinch-hitting, also hit an RBI single. The score was 12-3.
From there, LG shut down Lotte’s offense and finished the game with a big win.
LG starter Plutko improved to 11-1 on the season with six innings of eight-hit ball (one home run), six strikeouts and three earned runs. He threw 96 pitches, including 24 fastballs topping out at 147 mph, seven curves, 25 sliders, 10 changeups, and 30 cutters.
Lotte starter Park Se-woong gave up six runs on six hits (one home run) and three walks with two strikeouts in 5⅔ innings. His streak of quality starts was broken for the ninth time in nine games. He suffered his third loss of the season (4-0). He threw a total of 102 pitches, mixing in 42 fastballs, 25 curves, 16 sliders, and 19 forks.
The offense pounded out 16 hits, all from the top of the order, with Austin leading the way with three hits, including a home run, while Hong Chang-ki, Park Dong-won and Shin Min-jae added two hits apiece.