Lotte lost 3-5 in Game 6 of the season against the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League NC held at Changwon NC Park on the 28th. Following 0-4 losses on the 26th and 0-2 losses on the 27th, Lotte dedicated three consecutive weekend wins to NC.
After leading hitter Yoon Dong-hee got on base with a hit in the top of the first inning, Lotte scored the first run when fourth hitter Jeon Joon-woo hit an RBI double that cut through the left-center field with two outs. The team cleaned up its disgraceful loss in the previous two games and laid the groundwork to end consecutive losses.
However, Lotte’s game flow began to get twisted after Jung Hoon stepped down with a straight hit to the second baseman in the top of the first inning with two outs and an additional second base scoring opportunity. Starting pitcher Aaron Wilkerson allowed Davison to tie the game with an RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning with two outs and runners on the second and third bases, and the score was reversed to 1-2 when Kwon Hee-dong hit an RBI timely hit.
Lotte balanced the game with 2-2 when Son Ho-young, the leadoff hitter, hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning. In the top of the third inning, with one out and runners on first and second bases, Jung Hoon’s timely RBI hit made the turnaround to 3-2.
However, that was it. The score was reversed to 3-4 when Wilkerson hit Seo Ho-cheol to first base with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, and Kim Hyung-joon hit a come-from-behind two-run homer.
Lotte then widened the gap to 3-5 when Wilkerson gave up one more run to NC when Seo Ho-chul hit an infield grounder in the bottom of the sixth inning with no outs and runners on the first and third bases. The team was defeated helplessly as the offense ended with three outs in succession in the top of the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
Lotte had eight wins, 20 losses and one draw for this season, staying in 10th place with a winning percentage of 0.286, 1.5 games behind the ninth-place KT Wiz (11 wins, 20 losses and one draw). Lotte performed well against the SSG Landers by one win and one loss during weekdays, but failed to make a big dent in its victory in the three consecutive weekend games.
During the three consecutive games against NC Dinosaurs this weekend, Lotte struggled with empty space with its team batting average of 0.196. Even Victor Reyes, a foreign hitter who consistently played his part since the opening of the regular season on April 23, has been silent with one hit from 12 times at bat and a batting average of 0.083, reducing the power of the already weak batters. The fourth batter Jeon Joon-woo made five hits from 12 times at bat, 0.417 Son Ho-young made three hits from 11 times at bat with one homer and 0.273, but it was not enough.
It was even more dreadful in terms of scorers. He had a batting average of 0.071 (one hit in 14 times at bat) over the three consecutive weekends. As the vicious circle in which runners were piled up after hardships, but timely hit did not occur repeatedly, he had no choice but to play the game with difficulties.
Lotte failed to make the post season stage for six consecutive years from 2018 to last year. The team spent the longest period of fall without baseball since its dark history, in which it ranked eighth to eighth, eighth, fifth, seventh, and seventh from 2000 to 2007.
After the end of the 2023 season, Lotte appointed Kim Tae-hyung, a “master” who led the Doosan Bears to the Korean Series for seven consecutive years from 2015 to 2021, and dreamed of making a leap forward in the 2024 season.
However, the reality was harsh and harsh. Just changing the head coach without reinforcing the team’s capacity was too much of an ambition to improve the team’s physical constitution. To make matters worse, Lotte was forced into even more difficult situation as external FA players Yoo Kang-nam (four-year, 8 billion won) and Noh Jin-hyuk (four-year, 5 billion won) fell into the worst slump ahead of the 2023 season.
Currently, Lotte is seven games ahead of the LG Twins (16 wins, 14 losses, two draws), which ranks fifth, which is the last team to advance to the postseason. As there are 115 more pennant races left, Lotte cannot afford to give up this season.
However, it is impossible to hope for a reversal without turning points. If the winning margin is not met by the minimum of “-5” by May, the team should prepare for a lonely closing practice instead of a fall baseball this year. 토토사이트