At the moment the long match of 3 hours and 40 minutes ended. As the Hanwha Eagles players celebrated their walk-off victory, the Lotte Giants did not pull away. There was a brief commotion as manager Kim Tae-hyoung and the Lotte coaches protested the runner interference, but the walk-off loss remained unchanged.

Under the leadership of Kim Tae-hyoung, Lotte lost 7-8 to Hanwha in an away game of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on the 25th, after a closely contested battle in the 10th inning. With a record of 30 wins, 21 losses, and 3 ties (win rate of .588), Lotte experienced a losing series of 1 win and 2 losses, relinquishing their second place back to Hanwha (31 wins, 21 losses, win rate of .596) after just one day, dropping to third place.

Although trailing 0-6 until the 4th inning, Lotte staged a comeback with 6 runs in the 5th inning, knocking out Hanwha's starter Moon Dong-ju and tying the game. In the 9th inning, with 2 outs, Jeon Jun-woo hit a tying solo home run, sending the game into extra innings. The Lotte lineup relentlessly attacked Hanwha's solid pitching, leading to a classic showdown.

However, Lotte could not overcome the final hurdle in the bottom of the 10th inning. After 1 out, pitcher Kim Kang-hyun issued a walk to Choi Jae-hun, followed by an RBI single from Hwang Young-mook, placing runners on first and second base. Veteran Park Si-young was brought in as a relief pitcher and induced Estevan Florial to hit a ground ball to the pitcher. With 2 outs and runners on second and third base, a fastball thrown to Ha Ju-suk hit him, loading the bases.

Park Si-young threw 4 consecutive balls against the next batter, Moon Hyun-bin, allowing the walk-off run to score with a push. Moon Hyun-bin clenched his right fist and walked to first base, as 3rd base runner Choi Jae-hun crossed home plate to score the winning run.

As the Hanwha players were all joyful, the umpires headed towards the Lotte dugout on the 3rd base side. Chief coach Jo Won-woo actively protested something, raising curiosity. Manager Kim Tae-hyoung also received an explanation from the umpires, drawing the attention of the crowd to the 3rd base dugout. However, the situation did not change, and the Lotte players subsequently saluted the fans before departing.

According to Lotte's organization after the game, manager Kim Tae-hyoung was checking whether batter Moon Hyun-bin had passed the preceding runner Ha Ju-suk after the walk-off walk. The first base runner, Ha Ju-suk, raised his arms in joy without running to second base, and it was argued that as Moon Hyun-bin sprinted to second base to avoid being drenched by teammates, interference from a runner had occurred. It appeared that if the runner interference took place at first base before the third base runner scored, the run might not be granted.

While the protest seemed plausible, according to baseball rules, the game was in a situation where as long as the third base runner stepped on home plate, it would end regardless of the runner interference at first base. Since Moon Hyun-bin was awarded a walk, all runners obtained safe base-running rights, so as long as Moon Hyun-bin stepped on first base and third base runner Choi Jae-hun did not pass home plate, it would count as a score.

According to Rule 5.06 regarding base running in baseball, it is specified that 'a run will be recognized even if the trailing runner who has gained safe base-running rights is tagged out before touching home plate, as long as the leading runner who has also gained base-running rights touches home plate.' This applies when the batter is awarded a walk, granting all runners on base the right to advance safely to the next base.

The baseball rules illustrated a similar situation on the same day with two outs and the bases loaded, explaining that 'after the batter earned a walk, the runner on second base rushed around third base and was put out by the catcher’s throw. Even though he was out, according to the theory that scoring occurs simultaneously with a walk, all runners only need to touch the next base for scoring to be recorded for the third base runner.'

In other words, even if the runner interference results in an out in a situation where the bases are loaded, the run will be recognized, thus scoring will occur if the third base runner touches home plate after the interference. The batter runner and the third base runner only need to step on first base and home plate, respectively.

On this day, chief umpire Jeon Il-soo, who served as the home plate umpire, explained the situation to the fans after concluding his explanation to the Lotte coaching staff, saying, 'Because the batter runner stepped on first base, the run was recognized as the third base runner touched home plate, due to safe base-running rights.'

Although Lotte ended up losing the series, relinquishing their second place back to Hanwha, they excited fans with their tenacious baseball until the end. They finished the week with 2 wins, 3 losses, and 1 tie, but they performed commendably. Next week, Lotte is scheduled to face Samsung in Daegu and SSG in Sajik.

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