The Lotte Giants’ winning streak came to an end in a crushing defeat. The loss was made all the more disappointing by the hot hitting of Hwang Sung-bin, the “Demon King.
Lotte ended its three-game winning streak with a 5-11 loss against the Samsung Lions of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Sajik Stadium in Busan at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
With the loss, Lotte dropped back to last place with a record of 18-2-28. Hwang Sung-bin, who started in center field, went 2-for-4 with two doubles (one home run), two RBIs, two runs scored, and one strikeout in the loss.
Lotte swept a three-game series against the first-place Kia Tigers that preceded the “Classic Series” against Samsung. The result allowed them to leapfrog the Hanwha Eagles out of last place.
However, Lotte ran into trouble in the first inning of the first game of the series against Samsung, who came into the series with expectations of winning four straight games. Starter Na Kyun-ahn walked leadoff hitter Koo Ja-uk and allowed three consecutive singles to load the bases. Ryu Ji-hyuk’s grounder to shortstop brought home Kim Ji-chan to give Samsung an early lead, followed by Lee Jae-hyun’s RBI single and back-to-back doubles by Kim Heon-gon and Kang Min-ho to give Samsung a 5-0 lead.
Lotte had to face a five-run deficit before they even started their offense. After a triple by Na Seung-yeop in the bottom of the second inning, Park Seung-wook hit a single to right field, but it looked like they had a long way to go.
Then came Hwang Sung-bin, who has been the centerpiece of Lotte’s batting and mood lately. In the bottom of the third inning, Hwang came to the plate with the bases loaded after Lee Hak-joo singled up the middle, and he swung at a 145-kilometer per hour fastball from Samsung’s Reyes. The ball sailed over the right-field fence for a two-run home run. With the score at 3-5, Lotte’s fans went into a frenzy.
The next run was scored by Hwang Sung-bin, who led off the bottom 토토사이트 of the fifth inning with a single to center field to bring the home fans to their feet. The fans responded to the lead of the current “Sajik Top Star” with cheers.
Hwang Sung-bin stole second base when the next batter, Ko Seung-min, was hit by a pitch. He hit a home run and stole second. He then came home on a sacrifice fly by Na Seung-yup in the bottom of the inning to bring Lotte within 4-5.
However, Lotte could not extend their lead any further. They gave up a two-out RBI single to Samsung’s Ryu Ji-hyuk in the top of the sixth inning and back-to-back RBI doubles to Lee Jae-hyun and Lee Byung-heon in the top of the eighth inning to make it 4-11. A single run in the bottom of the ninth was not enough.
It was a disappointing loss for Lotte, which was made all the more disappointing by the strong performance of Hwang Sung-bin.