The Lotte Giants got a 7-5 win over the Kiwoom Heroes on Tuesday, with three of the runs coming off of fielding errors from the home team. The game, which started the seventh-week of KBO play, was the Giants first appearance at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, Korea.
Errors Give Giants Three Runs, Among Four In Early Innings
The Giants scored first, bringing two runs home off of an error. The play saw the ball get thrown to second base in an attempt to catch a runner, but instead, the ball passed into center field.
The Heroes answered back with a solo home run later in the inning off the bat of Park Dong-won to make the game 2-1.
Giants first-basement Lee Dae-ho got his sixth home run of the season in the fourth inning.
The teams traded runs in the fifth inning, moving the score to 4-3. First, a pitch that passed the catcher allowed Min Byung-hun to score from second base. Many other times in the inning the Heroes struggled with throwing errors.
Heroes player Heo Jeong-hyeop sent a ball into left field to take the game to within a run.
Late-Game Scoring
An eighth-inning rally from the Giants against reliever Kim Tae-hoon took the game out of reach. Dixon Machado got his 24th RBI of the season, batting in a run. Later in the inning, a hit from pinch hitter Kim Jae-yoo took two more runners home.
The 7-3 lead for the Giants was lessened over the final two innings, with the Heroes providing some trouble with hits. A hit from Lee Ji-young and a sacrifice fly off of Kim Gyu-min made the final score 7-5.
Starters Given Decision
Both starters went six innings, being given the win and loss for the game respectively. Getting his third win of the season, Noh Kyung-eun moved his record to 3-2 after his performance, giving up three runs and hits. The Giants pitcher got five strikeouts, tying his personal record for the 2020 season.
Eric Jokisch took the loss for the Heroes, taking his 2020 record to 5-2. Jokisch earned only one strikeout, his lowest amount all season so far, also allowing six hits and four runs.
Kim Won-joong got his seventh save this season, closing the ninth inning. Kim currently sits tied in second for most saves in the KBO season.
Giants Have Potential To Move
Success this week could see the Giants move up the rankings, as the team sits half-a-game behind the Heroes and Kia Tigers, who are tied for fourth. The teams will play two more games this week, with Wednesday’s first pitch at 6:30PM KST (5:30AM EDT).
Around The KBO
After snapping their 18-game losing streak in the previous week, the Hanhwa Eagles have lost a game again, dropping a 9-5 game to the LG Twins.
A 10th inning ground ball drove home Hwang Jae-gyun, giving the KT Wiz and 6-5 win against the SK Wyverns.
Three big innings late in the game gave the Kia Tigers a 7-4 win over the top-ranked NC Dinos.
Coming back from a 3-0 lead, the Samsung Lions scored four runs to defeat the Doosan Bears 4-3.
JackWannan.com 