‘Glasses vs. Long Hair’ Ace Face-Off, Park Seung Wook Defeats Ko Woo Seok…Lotte Escapes 3-Straight Losses

[Jamsil=Kim Young-rok, Sports Chosun] It was a breathtaking pitching battle between the aces of both teams. The game was only decided in the final moments.

The Lotte Giants won the seventh game of the season against the LG Twins at Jamsil Stadium on Wednesday, 2-1, thanks to Park Seung-wook’s game-winning RBI single in the top of the ninth inning, as Lotte recovered from a series sweep of the KT Wiz earlier in the day. While LG took solace in Kelly’s performance, they were left to rue the fact that Lotte’s Hwang Sung-bin was awarded a bases-loaded walk in the top of the eighth inning.

‘Glasses Ace’ Park Se-woong and ‘Long-haired Ace’ Kelly face off. It was a head-to-head battle between the two pitchers representing the two teams.

The situation was equally desperate. Park 스포츠토토 was under pressure from a string of losses. Kelly had a mission to overcome bullpen fatigue as LG had gone to extra innings in two consecutive games.

The momentum was with Park Se-woong. Park threw just 63 pitches until the bottom of the sixth inning, holding the LG bats to just one hit and no walks.

He ended the first and second innings with a triple play. The only hit he allowed was to Moon Sung-joo in the third, but catcher Yoo Kang-nam thwarted Moon’s steal of second base. The fourth, fifth, and sixth innings were consecutive triple plays. Lotte’s center fielder showed his leadership by greeting the incoming batters in front of the dugout at the end of each inning.

Kelly gave up four hits by the end of the sixth inning, but they were all scattered. He was never in any real danger and retired the side in order in the sixth on 82 pitches.

The first inning was a triple play. In the second and third innings, he gave up singles to Ahn Chi-hong and Kim Min-seok. In the fourth and sixth innings, Ahn Chi-hong and Rex had RBI singles with two outs, but they were still far from scoring.

Lotte gave up the lead to LG. In the bottom of the seventh, Park Se-woong gave up a leadoff single to Hong Chang-ki and a walk to Kim Hyun-soo, putting runners on first and third with one out.

Austin’s subsequent grounder to second base was a little too late for the Lotte infielders. Austin sprinted to first base and narrowly escaped with the save.

The play was reviewed on video, but the call was upheld because it was so close. Austin roared in celebration after the safe call.

However, Lotte immediately counterattacked. Lotte’s attention to detail stood out.

In the top of the eighth inning, leadoff hitter Yoo Kang-nam singled, bringing in pinch-hitter Hwang Sung-bin. The next batter, Kim Min-seok, laid down a clean bunt.

As he rounded second base, Hwang collided with LG shortstop Oh Ji-hwan. LOTTE manager Larry Sutton immediately took to the field and called for baserunning interference.

It was more of a collision than an obstruction. However, Hwang Sung-bin was about to run when he saw that third base was empty. The umpire decided that without the collision, Hwang would have been safe at third base and allowed him to advance. This time, LG coach Yoon Kyung-yeop rushed out of the dugout, but the call was not changed.

Lotte tied the game at 1-1 on a sacrifice fly by Ko Seung-min with one out. Kelly did his part with eight innings of one-run ball, throwing 113 pitches, led by a fastball that topped out at 151 kilometers until the eighth. Park Se-woong struck out the side in the eighth and finished with just 92 pitches.

LG brought in closer Go Woo-seok in the top of the ninth, but he gave up a walk to leadoff hitter Jeon Jun-woo. It was the first dead ball of the day for both teams. Ahn Chi-hong followed with a single to put runners on first and third.

Go struck out Lee Hak-joo, but gave up an RBI double to Park Seung-wook down the left field line. It was the game-winning hit. Go struck out Hwang Sung-bin and Kim Min-seok in consecutive at-bats.

[Jamsil=Kim Young-rok, Sports Chosun] It was a breathtaking pitching battle between the aces of both teams. The game was only decided in the final moments. The Lotte Giants won the seventh game of the season against the LG Twins at Jamsil Stadium on Wednesday, 2-1, thanks to Park Seung-wook’s game-winning RBI single in the top…