The Kiwoom Heroes cracked first in a close pitching battle against the Lotte Giants, losing 6-3 at home on Saturday. The game was the second straight win for the Giants at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea.
Starting pitchers Dan Straily and Han Hyun-hee played well, although it was the Giants who capitalized on Han late in his stint to get their game-winning runs.
Straily Helps Giants Through Majority of Game
It was a strong performance on the mound by Dan Straily which helped the Giants on the defence. Playing seven innings, Straily allowed only two hits and two walks while earning eight strikeouts.
After 102 pitches, Straily was given the win for the game, moving his 2020 record to 5-2. The appearance was his fourth consecutive win.
Giants Get Ahead Against The End of Han’s Showing
The Giants scored the first run of the game in the fifth inning, as Lee Dae-ho got home while the Heroes tried and failed to get the third out at first base. An Chi-hong beat the throw to first, picking up an RBI on the play.
Cracks started to show late in the performance for Heroes starting pitcher Han Hyun-hee. The seventh inning saw the end of his performance, as he was pulled following a hit from Jung Hoon that scored two runs.
Reliever Jo Duk-gil came in, with hits from Son Ah-seop and Jeon Jun-woo scoring three more runs in total during his time. Jo finished the inning, although the Giants had gained a 6-0 lead at that point.
The conclusion to Han’s performance can’t underscore what happened before, as the pitcher achieved a season-high of 10 strikeouts in his time there.
Giants Have Trouble Closing Game
The Giants had some trouble in the eighth inning, needing three different pitchers before moving on. Against second reliever of the inning Song Seung-jun, Kim Ha-seong got a hit, driving home a run. Against the final reliever Park Jin-hyung, hits from Lee Jung-hoo and Park Byung-ho scored a run each to make the game 6-3.
Playing his second day in a row, Kim Won-joong got his 12th save of the year after pitching in the ninth.
Final Game In Series Set For Sunday
Before the week of play concludes, the Giants will play one more game at the Heroes’ home park. The first pitch for Sunday’s game is set for 5:00PM KST (4:00AM EDT).
Around The KBO
An early inning from the Doosan Bears that saw them score five runs to put the team ahead for the rest of their game versus the LG Twins. The 2019 KBO Champions finished the game with a 7-3 score.
Lead by their top pitcher Odrisaimer Despaigne, the KT Wiz pulled off an upset 6-2 win over the NC Dinos.
A close 2-2 game was put out of reach for the Samsung Lions in the eighth inning after the Kia Tigers scored six runs to score 8-2.
A Saturday game between the SK Wyverns and the hosting Hanhwa Eagles was rained out. Due to this, the team will play games on Sunday and Monday.
JackWannan.com 