The Lotte Giants closed out their 2020 season on Friday with a 13-2 win over the Kia Tigers. The win for the team closed out a week-long series of games at the Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, South Korea.
The win for the Giants saw them take over a tied game in the sixth inning, kicking off a three-stint marathon of scoring that made the score look lopsided by the end.
The Giants were the first to score in the game, as Jeon Jun-woo hit a solo home run in the third inning.
The Tigers took their only lead within the game in the fourth inning, as a hit from Kim Min-sik scored two runners.
The Giants tied the game up in the fifth inning, as a sacrifice fly ball from Lee Dae-ho scored a runner.
Giants Take Game Over In Sixth
The sixth inning was the first inning where it was clear that the Giants would take over the game. The scoring kicked off with a two-run home run from Han Dong-hee.
Another run came in off of a hit from Jeon later in the inning.
The rally from the Giants caused the end of starting pitcher Drew Gagnon’s stint. Being given the loss in his last appearance of 2020, Gagnon finished the season with a record of 11-8.
Lee scored another run for the Giants before the inning finished, taking a runner home off of a hit.
Giants Pile On More Runs
The scoring only continued in the seventh inning. Dixon Machado put down two runs with a home run, his 12th of the season. The runs came against reliever Kim Hyun-joon, who was replaced by Park Jin-tae before the inning finished.
Jung Hoon got on the board later in the inning, driving a runner home with a hit.
Home runs from Lee Byung-kyu and An Chi-hong kicked off the eighth inning for the Giants. Hits from Han Dong-hee and Son Ah-seop took the game to its final score of 13-2.
Strong Showing By Sampson
Giants starter Adrian Sampson finished his rocky season on a high note, playing seven innings and only allowing two runs for a win. The game was only the second time in the season he pitched seven innings in one game.
Being given the win for the game, Sampson finished his 2020 season with a record of 9-12.
Giants Finish Season With Improved Seventh Place, Although Without A Playoff Spot
The Giants finished their 2020 season with a record of 71-72-1, placing them seventh in the league. While being two spots short of making the playoffs, the season is an improvement from the year before, where a 48-93-3 record put them last in the league.
The Tigers also finished the season without a playoff spot, with their 2020 record of 72-71 putting them sixth in the league. The team was not close to making the wild card spot, being eight-games behind the fifth-place Kiwoom Heroes.
Around The KBO
The close standings in the KBO for the second to fifth-ranked teams caused a dramatic final full gameday of the season.
The LG Twins had a disastrous final game of the season. Losing to the SK Wyverns 3-2, the Twins dropped from third in the league down to fourth. The implications for the loss mean the Twins won’t bypass the first round of the playoffs and instead will have to face the Kiwoom Heroes in the wild card series, which starts on November 1st.
Lead by starting pitcher Raul Alcantara, the Doosan Bears won a shutout 2-0 game over the Kiwoom Heroes. The win bumped the team up to third in the standings, allowing them to have a bye in the first round of the playoffs. The loss solidified the Heroes’ spot in the wild card round of the playoffs.
The Hanhwa Eagles finished their last-place season with an upset, defeating the KT Wiz 4-3. The Wiz will pass through the first two rounds of the playoffs, playing for a spot in the Korean Series later in November.
The top-ranked NC Dinos tied a game 4-4 against the Samsung Lions after 12 innings of play. The game saw the first start for star pitcher Koo Chang-mo after an injury took him out in July. Koo pitched five innings, giving up three runs before being pulled.
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