“Even in a losing situation, the players maintained their concentration and were able to achieve consolidation through Jun-woo's decisive home run in the eighth inning.”

This couldn’t be more thrilling. The Korea Professional Baseball's Lotte Giants brought home a satisfying victory from their home field. On the 15th, Lotte won 8-6 against the Kiwoom Heroes at Sajik Stadium, thanks to captain Jun-woo's decisive two-run homer.

In the eighth inning, trailing 5-6, Lotte's offense began. Lead-off hitter Seong-bin Hwang was retired on a fly out to left field, but Min-jae Jeon reached base with a single to center.

At the plate was Jun-woo. He had struggled recently, hitting .237 (9 hits in 38 at-bats) over the last 10 games, but he took advantage of the third pitch (143 km) from Byung-seong Park in a 1B-1S count and launched it over the left fence.

The moment he hit it, he instinctively knew it was a home run. Soon after, Victor Reyes secured a double, followed by a wild pitch from the opponent and a timely hit from Na Seung-yeob that sealed the deal.

Starting pitcher Na Kyun-an recorded 5 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 5 runs (3 earned) in 4 innings. Following him were Jeong Hyun-soo, Kim Sang-su, Park Si-young, Song Jae-young, Jeong Cheol-won, and Kim Won-jung.

Jeong Cheol-won gave up a home run to Song Seong-moon in the eighth inning, but thanks to Jun-woo's decisive two-run homer, he became the winning pitcher, and Kim Won-jung, who took the mound in the ninth inning, added a save by retiring the side cleanly. Victor Reyes completed the game with three hits, and Min-jae Jeon contributed with two hits, one RBI, and two runs.

Manager Kim Tae-hyung remarked after the game, “Even in a losing situation, the players maintained their concentration and were able to achieve consolidation through Jun-woo's decisive home run in the eighth inning. Also, the bullpen pitchers all did their part, allowing us to secure the victory.”

He added, “Winning the first game of the week has set a positive tone for the week. I also thank the fans who came to the ballpark to show enthusiastic support despite the chilly weather.”

Meanwhile, Lotte has announced Charlie Barnes (1 win, 3 losses, 6.33 ERA in 4 games) and Kiwoom has announced Ha Young-min (2 wins, 2 losses, 4.95 ERA in 4 games) as the starting pitchers for the 16th.

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