“We’ll reorganize during the All-Star break and show you something better”
The Doosan Bears defeated the Lotte Giants of the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League 6-3 on Thursday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, in the eighth game of the season between the two teams. It was the second straight victory for Doosan, who had been in a bit of a funk until recently, and allowed them to close out the first half with a “winning series.
The previous day (Day 3), Doosan struggled to break the bad mood. However, the game got off to a difficult start, with Raul Alcantara giving up six runs in the first inning. However, Doosan refused to give up, scoring a total of three runs in the second and third innings to pull away. In the fifth inning, Yang Seok-hwan hit a game-winning grand slam, and in the bottom of the eighth inning, Yang Ji once again blasted a grand slam to complete a thrilling 13-8 victory. In the process, Yang Seok-hwan and Yang Ji made history as the first players in KBO history to combine for two grand slams in a single game at Jamsil Stadium.
Doosan turned the tables on Lotte and pounded the Lotte mound for the second straight day. After being held in check by Aaron Wilkerson in the first inning, Doosan took control of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning with a two-run home run from Yang Ji-hye. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Yang Seok-hwan also hit a home run to extend the lead to 3-0. Heo Kyung-min’s pushing double and Kang Seung-ho’s RBI single in the sixth inning extended the lead to 5-0.
The mound was also solid. Kwak Bin, who started the final game of the first half, shut down the Lotte bats with six innings of 97 pitches, two hits, four walks and five strikeouts, including a fastball that reached 155 kilometers per hour. Doosan then used Lee Young-ha (1 inning), Park Chi-guk (⅔ inning), and Lee Byung-heon (⅓ inning) to keep the seventh and eighth innings scoreless. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Doosan finally broke through with a run-scoring single by Jung Soo-bin. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing to tie the game.
In the top of the ninth, Choi Hang-hang, the leadoff hitter, was retired on a strikeout, and then Jeon Min-jae made a throwing error on a hard grounder to shortstop by Lee Jung-geun. A shaky Kim Yoo-seong gave up a walk to Hwang Sung-bin to load the bases, and Yoon Dong-hee followed with a RBI single. Doosan had no choice but to bring in ‘closer’ Kim Taek-yeon, and it was 무료성인웹툰 a nerve-wracking game until the very end. Kim struck out the first batter he faced, Jeon Jun-woo, but gave up a two-run single to Victor Reyes in the next at-bat to close the gap to 6-3.
Still, there were no more upsets. Kim gave up singles to Na Seung-yeop to put runners on first and second, but after a five-pitch battle with Oh Seon-jin, Kim struck out the side for the third out, allowing Doosan to finish the first half in third place. On the mound, Kwak-Bin and closer Kim Taek-Yeon produced the “Yang-Yang Punch” for the second straight day, with Yang going 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBIs and Yang Seok-Hwan going 1-for-1 with a home run and one RBI, while Jung Soo-Bin and Heo Kyung-Min Kang Seung-Ho also had one RBI each.
Manager Lee Seung-yeop said after the game, “It’s a great day for us to finish the first half with back-to-back wins. The whole team struggled in the first half. Our starting pitcher Kwak-bin Kwak highlighted the first half with another six-inning no-hitter. He proved his maturity by closing out the innings without faltering in crunch time,” said the coach, giving a thumbs up to his homegrown ace.
“In the batting lineup, Yang Ji and Yang Seok-hwan came through for the second day in a row. Yang Ji’s leadoff single in a tense situation allowed us to take the lead. Yang Seok-hwan’s home run followed and brought the atmosphere. I would like to congratulate Yang Seok-hwan for making the record of 20 home runs for four consecutive seasons while using the spacious Jamsil Stadium as his home.”
Finally, Lee Seung-yeop said, “I would like to thank the fans for their support in the first-base bleachers even in bad weather. We will reorganize the team during the All-Star break and show better performance in the second half of the season.”
