The Lotte Giants emerged victorious in a hard-fought pitcher’s duel.
The Giants won 1-0 against the Hanwha Eagles in a doubleheader at Daejeon’s Hanwha Life Eagles Park on Tuesday. The win was Lotte’s second of the season (6-2).
Starting pitcher Na Gyun-an had a successful first outing for Lotte. He was perfect in his role as a starter, allowing no runs on four hits, three walks, and 10 strikeouts in six innings. He used a mix of forks (31), cutters (19), and curves (3) along with a fastball that topped out at 144 kilometers per hour.
Na Gyun-an was followed by Jeon Mir (one scoreless inning), Choi Jun-yong (one scoreless inning), and Kim Won-joong (one scoreless inning).
The game was tied at 0-0 in the top of the eighth inning. Newcomer Son Ho-young came up big.
Lotte made the trade with LG on March 30th. They sent prospect pitcher Woo Kang-hoon and received infielder Son Ho-young. “We pursued this trade to strengthen our right-handed infield depth with the ability to hit,” Lotte explained, adding, “Son Ho-young can compete for the starting infield position and is expected to be highly utilized as a resource that can be used as a catcher, pinch-hitter, and pinch-runner.”
In her first game on the 31st, Son didn’t get a hit, but she showed good defense. “He has a lot of speed,” said Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung. His bat has power, so I think it will get better as he plays,” said Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung, adding, “His swing is a little shorter and more concise than I’ve seen before.”
Lotte got on the board in the first inning after Reyes led off with an infield single and pinch-hitter Hwang Sung-bin stole second base. Jeon Jun-woo then drew a walk. Noh Jin-hyuk struck out, but Son Ho-young followed with an RBI single to give Lotte a 1-0 lead.
The top of the ninth inning was the most exciting. Hanwha’s leadoff hitter Ha Joo-seok calmly drew a walk against Lotte closer Kim Won-joong. Choi In-ho followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Lee Jae-won then drew an automatic walk to load the bases.
A sacrifice fly would have tied the game, but Moon’s grounder to second 사설토토 baseman-catcher-first baseman turned into a double play. Lotte got Peraza to fly out to center field and faced Chae Eun-sung. Kim Won-joong got Chae Eun-sung to ground into a 2B-2S double play to end the game.
After the game, Kim said, “We were able to win because all of our pitchers, including starter Na Gyun-an, middle reliever Jeon Mir, and Choi Jun-yong, pitched perfectly,” adding, “Son Ho-young also did a good job in a difficult situation.”
The winning pitcher was Jeon Mir, who pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Jeon, who was selected in the first round (No. 3 overall) of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft, became the second rookie to earn a win this season after Hwang Jun-seo.
“I’m very happy for his debut win and look forward to more great performances from him in the future,” Kim said.
Lotte announced Lee In-bok as its starter for Game 3, while Hanwha called on Moon Dong-ju.