Amid heavy rain, a confusing situation occurred in the 5th inning.

On the 20th, during the game between the Samsung Lions and the Lotte Giants at Sajik Stadium in Busan, a confusing situation arose in the 5th inning with one out and runners on second and third, with Lotte leading 2-0.

Pinch hitter Yang Do-geun hit a ground ball toward third base. The ball, which initially appeared to be going outside the foul line due to its spin, came back inside. At that moment, the paths of the runner on third base, Park Byung-ho, and third baseman Kim Min-sung crossed. Ultimately, contact occurred.

After the contact, Kim Min-sung caught the ball and threw it to first base, getting Yang Do-geun out. With the contact confirmed, the umpires began discussions. Third base umpire Kwon Young-cheol, after discussions with home plate umpire Lee Young-jae, declared Park Byung-ho out as well. This was a double out due to defensive interference.

Samsung's manager Park Jin-man briefly protested and then went back in, while all Lotte players returned to the dugout. However, the umpires gathered again and continued discussions for a long time. Then the umpires called the Lotte players back to the field. They also explained the situation to manager Kim Tae-hyoung.

The base situation became two outs with runners on first and second. Chief second base umpire Choi Soo-won held the microphone and explained, "There was contact between the runner and the fielder at third base, therefore interference is established. However, since there was no intent, it results in a dead ball, so we will resume the game with two outs and the situation of runners on first and second." In other words, since the defensive interference situation was established, Park Byung-ho was declared out. However, the umpires judged, at their discretion, that the contact by Park Byung-ho was unintentional. Since a dead ball was declared at the moment of contact between Park Byung-ho and Kim Min-sung, the batter, Yang Do-geun, was allowed to step on first base.

The 5th inning resumed with two outs and runners on first and second. Following the situation, Samsung failed to score while Lotte prevented a run. Kim Sung-yoon's mis-hit ground ball to the pitcher was strong thrown out by pitcher Gamboa. After a video review, he was called out by a narrow margin.

Lotte's attack in the bottom of the 5th also ended in a three-up, three-down, maintaining the score at 2-0.

[OSEN]