The Lotte Giants finished the first week of play with a 5-0 record, beating the SK Wyverns on Sunday with a shutout 4-0 performance. The win left them as the last undefeated team in the league, putting them atop the KBO standings.
The Giants earned the win during the afternoon at the Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, South Korea.
Straily Holds Off Wyverns
Along with a seventh-inning rally that put the Giants on the board, the team saw a strong performance from starter Dan Straily who got his first win of the season. Straily held the Wyverns to three hits over seven innings, getting 11 strikeouts along the way.
This game was the second appearance of the season for Straily, who started on Tuesday for the club’s season opener.
Deciding Seventh Inning
A strong seventh inning saw the Giants bring home four runs. Wyverns starter Kim Tae-hoon was pulled after he walked the first two batters of the inning. He put up strong numbers in earlier innings, allowing only two hits.
Reliever Seo Jin-yong was brought in with no outs and two on base. An Chi-hong grounded out, allowing Son Ah-seop to come in from third and score the first run of the game.
The next batter, Jung Hoon, knocked a ball into center, allowing Lee Dae-ho to go from second base to home, making the score 2-0.
Dixon Machado finished the scoring party with his third home run of the season, bringing home Hoon as well to make it 4-0. Machado is currently tied with Preston Tucker of the LG Twins and Han Dong-min of the Wyverns for most home runs in the season.
Giants relievers Park Jin-hyung and Jin Myung-ho kept the Wyverns hitless for the final two innings.
A Preview of The Next Week
The Giants have their first day off tomorrow (not counting the rained out Saturday game which forced the team to not play) before another week of matchups. On Tuesday, the team kicks off a home series against the 2019 Korean Series Champions, the Doosan Bears.
On Friday, the team travels to Daejeon, South Korea for a three-game away series against the Hanhwa Eagles, who sit tied for third in the standings.
Around The KBO
Bouncing back from two one-sided losses before, the Kia Tigers got a 12-3 win over the Samsung Lions. The teams finish the first week of play tied for sixth.
A strong seventh inning let the Kiwoom Heroes move to a 6-3 lead and eventually win against the Hanhwa Eagles. The Heroes are second in the league with a 5-1 record, with the Eagles sitting in sixth.
The NC Dinos had an early six-run lead in the first inning, but the LG Twins mounted a comeback to eventually earn a 10-8 win. Placed fifth in the league, the Twins gave the Dinos their first loss of the season. The Dinos sit in third place currently.
After 24 runs, more than four hours of play and extra innings, an error in a ground ball allowed Hur Kyoung-min from the Doosan Bears to score a game-winning run over the KT Wiz. With a final score of 13-12, the Bears got their second win of the season, placed fourth in the league currently. The Wiz sit tied for last place with the Wyverns, only earning one win so far.
JackWannan.com 