The NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization escaped an eight-game losing streak against their Nakdong River Derby rivals.
Under the management of Lee Ho-jun, NC won a comeback victory 9-6 against the Lotte Giants in a game held at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 13th. This allowed NC to end a two-game losing streak for the season and a streak of eight losses against Lotte, shifting the team's momentum.
On that day, NC started out struggling as starting pitcher Lee Yong-chan allowed five runs in the first inning. However, in the subsequent offensive in the first inning, Park Han-kyul quickly changed the momentum with a two-run homer, and in the second inning, Kim Hwi-jip hit another two-run homer and an opponent's wild pitch brought the score to a tie, after which Son Ah-seop's sacrifice fly successfully put NC ahead 6-5. In the fourth inning, with one out and runners on second and third due to an opponent's error, Son Ah-seop's ground ball to third base extended the lead to 7-5.
Lotte continued to threaten but NC minimized the damage. In the top of the seventh inning, they faced a crisis with no outs and runners on first and second. However, Jeon Sa-min managed to turn a double play against Kim Min-seong, giving the team a breath of relief. Nevertheless, with two outs and a runner on third, catch Kim Hyung-jun missed a foul fly from Jeon Jun-woo, prolonging the crisis, and they allowed an RBI hit, bringing the score to 7-6.
However, in the bottom of the seventh inning, with two outs and a runner on first, Kim Hyung-jun hit a crucial two-run homer that decided the game. Kim Hyung-jun led the victory with this home run, redeeming himself after an earlier error.
Starting pitcher Lee Yong-chan struggled in his outing, allowing five runs on four hits, three walks, two hit by pitches, and two strikeouts over two innings. However, Son Joo-hwan (three innings, one hit, one walk, one strikeout, no runs), Kim Jin-ho (one inning, one walk, one strikeout, no runs), Han Jae-seung (one inning, one hit, one walk, one earned run), Jeon Sa-min (1⅔ innings, one hit, two walks, no runs), and Ryu Jin-wook (1⅓ innings, one hit, two strikeouts, no runs) kept the game in hand. The bullpen completed the victory allowing one run (earned) over seven innings.
After the game, Lee Ho-jun noted, "The early homer by Park Han-kyul helped us regain momentum, and the homers by Kim Hwi-jip and Kim Hyung-jun allowed us to win. Most importantly, it is positive that we secured the victory with our power hits."
He added, "All the players did their best in their roles, which I believe is why we achieved today’s victory," and expressed his gratitude to the fans for their strong support despite the cold weather.
NC was originally scheduled to play home games against Doosan from the 15th to the 17th, but the games have been postponed due to the safety inspection procedures still being incomplete. After a rest day on the 4th, they will face Hanwha in a three-game series starting on the 18th in Daejeon.
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