
Ending the miracle. The SSG Landers took down Kim Won-joong in a thrilling victory.
The SSG Landers won the 12th game of the season against the Lotte Giants 12-11 at SSG Landers Field in Incheon, South Korea, on May 31. With the win, SSG maintained sole possession of fourth place in the standings with a five-game winning streak, while the third-place Samsung Lions closed the gap further with a loss. SSG also took a commanding 8-4 lead in the head-to-head series against Lotte this season. Lotte, on the other hand, suffered a shock loss as their closer collapsed, dropping their second straight game.
▶LOTTE starting lineup=Yoon Dong-hee (center fielder)-Ko Seung-min (second baseman)-Jon Jun-woo (left fielder)-Reyes (right fielder)-Na Seung-yeop (first baseman)-Son Ho-young (third baseman)-Jung Hoon (designated hitter)-Park Seung-wook (shortstop)-Jung Geun-geun (catcher) Starting pitcher Kim Jin-wook
▶SSG starting lineup=Choi Ji-hoon (center fielder)-Park Sung-sung (shortstop)-Choi Jung (third baseman)-Eredia (designated hitter)-Han Yu-seom (right fielder)-Lee Ji-young (catcher)-Oh Tae-gon (first baseman)-Ha Jae-hoon (left fielder)-Kim Sung-hyun (second baseman) Starting pitcher Oh Won-seok
The two teams battled in a close batting battle. Lotte struck first. After a leadoff double by Yoon Dong-hee in the top of the first inning, Go Seung-min singled to put runners on first and third with nobody out, and back-to-back RBI singles by Jeon Jun-woo and Reyes gave Lotte a 2-0 lead.
The opportunity came in the top of the second inning. Park Seung-wook led off with a straight ball, and Lee Jung-geun laid down a sacrifice bunt. Yoon Dong-hee grounded out to second base, but Ko Seung-min singled to center field to bring home Park Seung-wook from second base to make it 3-0.
After a quiet first inning, SSG quickly tied the game in the bottom of the second. Heredia led off the inning with a double, and the next batter, Han Yoo-seom, followed with a single. One out later, Oh Tae-gon doubled to left-center to bring in another run. One out later, Ha Jae-hoon drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Kim Sung-hyun followed with a single to right-center to tie the game at 3-3 in favor of SSG.
Then Lotte struck again in the top of the third. With no outs, leadoff hitter Son Ho-young hit a solo home run to left field off Oh Won-seok. He took a 137-kilometer fastball over the left field fence. The next batter, Jeong Hoon, followed with a solo home run to right. This time, a sub-140-kilometer fastball was perfectly timed. It was a back-to-back home run for Lotte. With the two home runs, Lotte regained the lead, 5-3.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, SSG rallied again. Lee Ji-young walked to load the bases. Oh Tae-gon followed with a double to left-center, and a throwing error by the center fielder allowed Lee to come home. One out later, a throwing error by the opposing shortstop on a grounder to shortstop put runners at first and third. Choi Ji-hoon’s grounder to shortstop allowed Oh Tae-gon to score from third, and Choi was safe at first to prevent a double play. SSG tied the game again at 5-5.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Lotte bats exploded again. They chased right-handed reliever Lee Rin. Leadoff hitter Son Ho-young doubled and Jung Hoon singled to right to put runners on first and third. Park struck out, but pinch-hitter Hwang Sung-bin led off with a single to left. The inning continued with runners on first and second. This time, Yoon Dong-hee homered off Lee Roon. He hit a four-pitch 131-kilometer slider over the left-center field fence for a three-run homer in the 2B1S. It was a big home run that turned 6-5 into 9-5.
The SSG bats went silent after that. After scoring in the fourth inning, they didn’t create much of an opportunity.
In the meantime, Lotte added another run. With two outs in the top of the seventh inning, the offense exploded. Reyes singled and Na Seung-yup walked to load the bases. With runners on first and third, Son Ho-young singled to left field, scoring Reyes from third 카지노 커뮤니티 base to give LOTTE a five-run lead, 10-5.
But it was in the bottom of the ninth inning that the game began. With Lotte leading by five runs, Kim Won-joong, the closer, took the mound. Leadoff hitter Oh Tae-gon was retired on an infield grounder, but the bases were loaded with one out. Jeon Eui-san singled and Kim Sung-hyun drew a walk. Choi Ji-hoon followed with a single to load the bases. SSG created a desperate chance.
Jung Jun-jae hit an RBI single to make it a four-run game. Another run. The atmosphere got a little weird. LOTTE’s pitching coach Joo Hyung-kwang visited the mound to try to stem the tide. Park Ji-hwan showed tremendous concentration against Kim Won-joong, going up to 11 pitches, and brought in a runner from third with a sacrifice fly. Three runs now.
With two outs and runners on first and second, Heredia stepped to the plate. After a dogged full-count battle with Wonjoong Kim, Heredia took a seven-pitch forkball and smashed it over the left-center field fence for an unbelievable game-tying three-run home run. SSG scored five runs in quick succession to tie the game at 10-10, and Kim Won-joong, who threw more than 30 pitches, was unable to finish the game and came off the mound after recording a blown save.
After Heredia’s home run, Choi Sang-min singled, but SSG was unable to close out the bottom of the ninth and the game went to extra innings.
In the 10th inning, both teams were scoreless. SSG closed out the top of the 10th with a triple play by Noh Kyung-eun, and in the top of the 11th, Cho Byung-hyun struck out three straight KKK batters. Lotte followed Park Jin’s one-and-a-third innings of relief with Song Jae-young and Kim Do-gyu to keep their team out of trouble.
The 12th and final inning. LOTTE’s leadoff hitter Kim Min-seok singled up the middle against Moon Seung-won. Jang Doo-seong attempted a sacrifice bunt. Third baseman Jung Jun-jae slipped while trying to catch the ball as he ran in, giving LOTTE runners on first and second with no outs. Na Seung-yup also laid down a sacrifice bunt, putting runners on first and second and third. The SSG battery, which walked Noh Jin-hyuk on a wild pitch, was unable to prevent the runners from scoring on Jung Hoon’s sacrifice fly. The tying run scored again.
Trailing by one run, SSG went to the plate in the bottom of the 12th inning. Heredia led off with a walk to load the bases. The next batter, Choi Sang-min, was also called out for a dead ball as the ball that went behind his back hit his body, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Kim Min-sik tried to convert the offense after a fake bunt, but it came to naught as the runner from second was doubled out after a straight hit by the pitcher.
But baseball wasn’t over until it was over. In the bottom of the 12th inning, runners on first and second. Oh Tae-gon took a slider from Hyun Do-hoon and launched a come-from-behind two-run home run over the left-center field fence. It was an exhilarating home run to end the game.
The KBO League saw a total of 109 runs scored across five stadiums on this day. Only the Kiwoom Heroes were held scoreless, while SSG, Lotte, LG, Doosan, and Hanwha scored 10 or more runs. Doosan set a new KBO League record for most runs scored and a new KBO League record for most runs scored in a game with a 30-6 victory over KIA.
On a day when almost the entire stadium was hit, SSG was the last team to go crazy. SSG was the last to laugh after a four-hour, 48-minute battle.