A walk-off hit from Kim Joon-tae gave the Lotte Giants a 4-3 victory on Tuesday over the Kia Tigers. The game saw the Giants come back from a three-run deficit that the Tigers earned early. The win kicked off the home series for the Giants at the Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, Korea.
A long and consistent performance from Tigers starter Aaron brooks made the only chance for the Giants to score come late in the game. The starter held the team off for seven innings, allowing only one hit in his appearance.
Tigers Get Ahead By Three
The game went scoreless for its first three innings, but that ended after Choi Hyung-woo hit a two-run home run to put the Tigers up 2-0 in the fourth. A third run was notched on in the sixth after a hit from Choi Hyung-woo scored a runner.
Giants starter Seo Jun-won was pulled in the sixth after earning one strikeout and allowing five hits. This was his second game this year against the Tigers, a better performance than his disastrous four-inning game in May where he gave up seven runs.
Walk-Off Gives Win To Giants
The first run for the Giants came in the eighth, as Kim Joon-tae was driven home by Son Ah-seop. The play came against the first of two relievers to play in the game for the Tigers, Jeon Sang-hyun.
Kicking off the scoring rally in the ninth inning, Dixon Machado batted home a run against Moon Kyung-chan to make the game 3-2. Kim Joon-tae scored the two final runs, ending the game. Reliever Moon was given the loss for the game, his first of the season after getting 10 saves over 17 appearances before.
Giants Trail Fifth-Place Tigers By Two Games
The Giants have struggled previously against the Tigers, being swept in their two meetings before to equal a 0-6 record.
This series is an interesting one for both teams due to their currently neighbouring KBO rankings of sixth and fifth place. The win on Tuesday brought the Giants to two games behind the fifth-ranked Tigers.
The Giants will host the Tigers for two more games at home this week. First pitch for Wednesday’s game is at 6:30PM KST (5:30AM EDT), although early forecasts predict rain will affect the game.
Around The KBO
In a battle of two of the league’s top pitchers, Drew Rucinski and the NC Dinos prevailed over Odrisaimer Despaigne and the KT Wiz with a score of 4-3.
Rookie pitcher Kim Yun-sik had a rough outing, giving up five runs to the Kiwoom Heroes who defeated the LG Twins 8-3.
A one-sided victory went in the way of the Doosan Bears, who defeated the SK Wyverns 9-2. A big week is ahead for the Bears as they face the first-place Dinos starting Friday.
A high-scoring game went to the Samsung Lions who defeated the Hanhwa Eagles 11-4. The Heroes made a mid-season roster change on Monday, signing former MLB player Brandon Barnes. The outfielder will take the foreign spot on the team from Jared Hoying, who was placed on waivers.
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