The Samsung Lions defeated the Lotte Giants in front of a sold-out crowd.
Head coach Park Jin-man led Samsung to a 9-7 victory over Lotte in the fifth game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Tuesday. With all 24,000 seats sold out for the second time this season, the team snapped a three-game losing streak amid enthusiastic support from home fans.
Starting pitcher Albert Suarez pitched 5.2 innings with nine hits and three runs, earning his second win of the season in 37 days after his last start against the Kiwoom Heroes on May 4. Kim Tae-hoon walked in the ninth inning, but Oh Seung-hwan saved the day.
At the plate, Oh Jae-il shined. With his back-to-back home runs on the day, Oh became the 34th player in KBO history to join the 200-homer club. He went 4-for-5 with two home runs, three RBIs, and two runs scored. Lee Jae-hyun added three hits and a solo shot, Kim Hyun-joon had a hot triple, Kim Ji-chan had three hits, and Kim Ho-jae also had a multi-hit game. Samsung had 14 hits on the day, including four home runs.
Lotte couldn’t smile. Han Hyun-hee didn’t last past the fifth inning. Park Seung-wook and Ahn Chi-hong had multi-hit games, and Kim Min-soo had two hits and two RBIs, but it wasn’t enough to break Samsung’s momentum. The winning streak fell short.
Samsung’s starting lineup was Kim Ji-chan (second base), Kim Hyun-joon (center field), Jose Pirela (left field), Kang Min-ho (designated hitter), Oh Jae-il (first base), Kim Jae-sung (catcher), Kim Ho-jae (third base), Lee Jae-hyun (shortstop), and Lee Sung-gyu (right field). 먹튀검증
Lotte went with Kim Min-seok (center fielder), Jack Rex (designated hitter), Ahn Chi-hong (second baseman), Yoon Dong-hee (right fielder), Ko Seung-min (left fielder), Jeong-hoon (first baseman), Park Seung-wook (shortstop), Yoo Kang-nam (catcher), and Kim Min-soo (third baseman).
Samsung took the lead in the first inning. Kim Ji-chan, who was on third base with one out, reached on an error. With the bases loaded and two outs, Oh Jae-il hit a cool RBI double to make it 2-0.
Lotte answered right back. In the bottom of the second inning, Park Seung-wook and Yoo Kang-nam singled to put runners on first and third. Kim Min-soo followed with a single, his third straight hit.
Samsung immediately responded with another run. In the second inning, Lee Jae-hyun hit a cool home run with the bases loaded. The score remained 0-0 until the top of the fifth inning, when Lotte cut the deficit to one run with runners on first and second and a sacrifice fly by Yoon Dong-hee. Samsung answered right back with a solo home run by Oh Jae-il with the bases loaded in the fifth inning.
Han Hyun-hee did not last the fifth inning. Samsung’s momentum was huge. Lee Jae-hyun’s lucky hit brought home Kim Jae-sung, the third baseman, and Kim Min-soo’s wild pitch advanced the runners by one base. No runs were scored, but the momentum shifted in Samsung’s favor.
Lotte and Samsung traded runs in the sixth inning. Lotte got an RBI single from Kim Min-soo, and Samsung got a home run from Oh Jae-il. Samsung hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to seal the win. With runners on first and second, Kim Hyun-jun launched a home run to center field.
Lotte wanted to score some runs, but it wasn’t easy. They were unable to capitalize on the ironclad pitching of the Samsung bullpen, which came up behind Suarez.
Samsung brought up Kim Tae-hoon in the ninth inning. Kim gave up three runs. The bases were loaded. Oh Seung-hwan came in. Despite a flurry of runs from Lotte, he didn’t give up a run. Samsung preserved the win. Samsung escaped a three-game losing streak, while Lotte’s winning streak came to an end.