In front of a packed house, the girl group’s members performed a stunning poem. And the home team took home the victory.
Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, Korea, has become a ‘baseball restaurant’ that is envied by no one in the world.
The Lotte Giants, led by manager Kim Tae-hyung, defeated the SSG Landers of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League 5-3 in the second game of a doubleheader in the final game of a three-game weekend series at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on Monday, thanks to an evenly matched batting lineup that included foreign right-hander Aaron Wilkerson, who pitched 7⅔ innings of three-run ball, transfer Son Ho-young, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and No. 9 hitter Park Seung-wook, who hit the game-winning hit.
Lotte had earlier dropped the first game of the doubleheader at 2 p.m., 1-5, behind a strong pitching performance from opposing ace Kim Kwang-hyun. The first game of the doubleheader had been canceled due to rain the day before, leaving Lotte with a 1-1 record in the weekend series. In the final game of the three-game set, Wilkerson, who has been in fine form of late, came through and earned the win.
The second game of the doubleheader was a Sunday evening affair, but the heat was on early as all 22,758 seats were sold out. While Lotte’s recent rebound with the mercenary skills of manager Kim Tae-hyung and the performance of young players can be said to be the driving force behind the ‘sellout’, it was the decision of popular girl group ESPAR’s KARINA to perform the opening ceremony that had a major impact. Carina had originally agreed to play the opening ceremony if the doubleheader was not held that day and the game started normally at 5 p.m., and then traveled to Daegu at 8 p.m. for another event.
However, due to the doubleheader, the first game ended at 5:00 p.m. and the second game was not scheduled to start until 5:50 p.m. due to field maintenance.
However, after watching the game from the sidelines, Carina took the mound, greeted the fans, and threw out the ceremonial first pitch. She stayed for the 토토사이트 rest of the game and then traveled to Daegu, where she was baptized by the fans of Sajik Baseball Stadium with a series of cameras and applause. The players in both dugouts were also fixated on the mound as she threw out the first pitch, and her every gesture was the talk of the town.
From there, the game seemed to turn into a batting battle as both teams scored in the first inning or two.
SSG got on the board first when leadoff hitter Choi Ji-hoon connected on Wilkerson’s 139 km/h fastball sinker for a 115-meter solo shot over the right field fence. Wilkerson, who threw the KBO’s first complete game shutout of the season on April 4 against then-leading Kia in Gwangju, got off to a shaky start in the next game when he was hit by a pitch with the first pitch of the game.
But he got Heredia to pop out to first base to end the first inning, and in the Lotte offense that followed, Yoon Dong-hee singled and Victor Reyes doubled to put runners on second and third with two outs, and Son Ho-young, who was acquired from LG, connected on a two-out RBI single to put the game out of reach.
The two teams traded runs in the second inning.
After SSG scored a run on a grounder to second base by Jung Hyun-seung with runners on second and third, Lotte answered with a run of their own 토토사이트 추천 when Park Seung-wook, their No. 9 hitter, hit a three-run triple with one out to regain the 3-2 lead.
The game, which seemed to be a pitcher’s duel, tilted even more in Lotte’s favor in the fifth inning.
After leadoff hitter Hwang Sung-bin reached on an error, the next batter, Yoon Dong-hee, hit a huge triple to center field to bring home Hwang and make it 4-2. Ko Seung-min followed with an RBI single to make it 5-2. Given Wilkerson’s recent form, SSG was not going to be easy to chase down.
SSG cut the deficit to two runs in the top of the sixth inning when Heredia hit a sacrifice fly, but they couldn’t get any closer to Wilkerson.
With the win in the second game of the doubleheader, Lotte remained in eighth place with 26 wins, 34 losses and two draws (0.433 winning percentage). SSG narrowly held on to fifth place with a 32-31-1 record (.508) and a .508 winning percentage.
Wilkerson picked up his sixth win of the season (5-5), allowing three runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out seven in 7⅔ innings. His ERA dropped to 3.45. Lotte will play a three-game midweek series at home against the Kiwoom Heroes from Nov. 11-13. SSG will also face KIA at home during the same period.