Lotte achieved a dramatic walk-off victory. Lee Ho-jun did it.
On the 9th, Lotte won 5-4 against the Doosan Bears in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League regular season game held at Sajik Stadium in Busan after an 11-inning battle. With this victory, Lotte redeemed themselves from the previous day's loss and marked a season record of 47 wins, 38 losses, and 3 ties. Doosan had their three-game winning streak halted and remained at 35 wins, 49 losses, and 3 ties.
Doosan set their starting lineup with Jung Soo-bin (center fielder), Oh Myung-jin (second baseman), Cave (right fielder), Yang Eui-ji (designated hitter), Kim Jae-hwan (left fielder), Park Jun-soon (third baseman), Kim Gi-young (catcher), Kim Min-seok (first baseman), and Lee Yoo-chan (shortstop). The starting pitcher was Kwak Bin.
Lotte started with Hwang Seong-bin (center fielder), Park Chan-hyung (third baseman), Reyes (left fielder), Jeon Jun-woo (designated hitter), Yoo Kang-nam (catcher), Na Seung-yeop (first baseman), Han Tae-yang (second baseman), Jang Du-seong (right fielder), and Jeon Min-jae (shortstop). The starting pitcher was Lee Min-seok.
Doosan immediately equalized. In the top of the first inning, Park Jun-soon hit a double to the right field wall with two outs, and Yang Eui-ji got an infield single to the shortstop, creating a two-out, first and third opportunity, but Kim Jae-hwan flew out to the second baseman, missing the chance. In the bottom of the first, Lotte scored first. After one out, Park Chan-hyung walked, and Reyes got a single to right field, creating a one-out, first and third opportunity where Jeon Jun-woo hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder, making it 1-0.
Doosan quickly tied the score. In the top of the second inning, Park Jun-soon hit a single to right field and Kim Gi-young followed with a single to left field, creating a no-out, first and third opportunity. Kim Min-seok struck out, but Lee Yoo-chan walked, continuing the one-out, bases loaded opportunity. Jung Soo-bin hit a ground ball to the second baseman, forcing out the runner at second but allowing the runner at third to score. The game was tied at 1-1. With two outs and runners on first and third, Oh Myung-jin hit a ground ball toward the second baseman, but the ball hit the runner at first, Jung Soo-bin, resulting in an out. This was a disappointing attack for Doosan in the second inning.
Lotte took the lead again. In the bottom of the second inning, lead-off batter Na Seung-yeop reached base due to a first baseman error. With Han Tae-yang's single and Jang Du-seong's walk, Lotte had a no-out, bases loaded opportunity where Jeon Min-jae hit a sacrifice fly to the left fielder, turning the game around to 2-1. Then, with one out and runners on first and second, Hwang Seong-bin hit a ground ball to the second baseman, resulting in the leading runner being out at first, but he successfully stole second, creating a two-out, second and third opportunity, where Park Chan-hyung hit a fortunate infield single to the third baseman, extending Lotte's lead to 3-1.
After that, both teams failed to score. Lotte, after three runs in the second inning, went three up, three down consecutively in the third and fourth innings without adding any runs. Doosan created a one-out, first and second opportunity with a walk to lead-off batter Cave and a stolen base, followed by another walk to Kim Jae-hwan but failed to score. In the fourth inning, they also missed a two-out, first and second opportunity created by walks to Lee Yoo-chan and Oh Myung-jin.
Doosan's starting pitcher Kwak Bin threw 103 pitches over seven innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 walks, striking out 5, and allowing 3 runs (1 earned run). Excluding the earned run from the second-inning error, he executed a quality start-plus pitching performance. Lotte's starting pitcher Lee Min-seok also allowed runners almost every inning, but held out for 5 innings with 6 hits, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts, and 1 run. The win condition was met by Lee Min-seok.
On this day, Kim Won-jung could not take the mound again. After Lee Min-seok, Lotte mobilized their bullpen once more. From the 6th to the 7th inning, Kim Kang-hyun (⅓ inning), Jeong Hyeon-su (⅓ inning), and Jeong Cheol-won (1⅓ innings) allowed runners on base, but still maintained a scoreless inning, not allowing any runs in the 6th inning with 2 outs and a runner on second, or the 7th inning with 2 outs and runners on first and second.
Lotte decided to put Choi Jun-yong, who should be the closer, into the game from the 8th inning instead of Kim Won-jung. However, they faced another crisis. Lead-off batter Yang Seok-hwan got an infield single to the shortstop, and Lee Yoo-chan hit a single to right field, causing a no-out, first and second dilemma. Jung Soo-bin's sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third with one out. However, Choi Jun-yong induced Oh Myung-jin into a line drive to the shortstop, and forced Cave, who had been the hero for Doosan the previous day, into a ground ball out at first, escaping the scoring threat.
However, Lotte ultimately failed to hold onto the 9th. Doosan showed their resilience again with two outs in the 9th. Lead-off batter Yang Eui-ji reached base on a hit by pitch. Kim Jae-hwan was out on a ground ball to first base, and the lead runner at first was caught, followed by Park Jun-soon striking out. But pinch-hitter Choo Jae-hyun reached base by walk and, with a wild pitch, continued the two outs with runners on second and third. Ultimately, Kang Seung-ho, after a full count battle, hit a two-run timely hit to center field against Choi Jun-yong, sensationally tying the game at 3-3. Then, during Lee Yoo-chan's at-bat, Kang Seung-ho successfully stole second base, and Lee Yoo-chan followed with a timely single to right field, putting Doosan ahead 4-3.
Lotte also had a chance in the 9th. Doosan also took a gamble by using closer Kim Tae-kyun for the fifth consecutive game. This was his third consecutive appearance against KT last week and his second consecutive appearance that day. However, Kim Tae-kyun struggled. Lotte started with a lead-off walk by Han Tae-yang, followed by a sacrifice bunt from Jang Du-seong, and then a wild pitch created a one-out, third base chance where Lee Ho-jun hit a ground ball to first base, but a wild throw from first baseman Kang Seung-ho led to a tie at 4-4. Thus, the game went into extra innings.
In the bottom of the 10th, Lotte's Park Seung-wook reached base with a single to center field after one out. However, he was out on a pickoff attempt, ending the inning. Doosan's Park Jun-soon reached base with an infield single to the shortstop in the top of the 11th, but pinch-hitter Park Gye-beom failed in a sacrifice bunt attempt, ending the inning without any runs. Doosan lost their chance to win.
In the bottom of the 11th, Lotte's lead-off batter Jung Hoon reached base with a single to left field. Han Tae-yang struck out, but pinch-hitter Choi Hwang walked, creating a one-out, first and second opportunity. Eventually, Lee Ho-jun hit a walk-off timely hit to right field, sealing the game.
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