Wow! "Is this the charm of Ma-hwang?" Lotte's Hwang Seong-bin dominates the KIA game, securing a winning series with back-to-back decisive victories: 10-2 and 11-3. [Busan On-the-Ground Review]

*This content was translated by AI.

Lotte Giants unleashed powerful offense for two consecutive days to overpower the KIA Tigers, securing a winning series.

On the 8th, Lotte defeated KIA 11-3 in their regular-season home game at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium as part of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.

Following a 10-2 victory the previous day (7th), Lotte improved to 38 wins, 2 draws, and 44 losses, maintaining their 8th-place position in the league. They achieved back-to-back wins recently. Meanwhile, KIA fell into a four-game losing streak with a record of 44 wins, 2 draws, and 39 losses, holding steady at 4th place in the standings.

For this game, Lotte set their starting lineup as follows: Hwang Seong-bin (center fielder), Ko Seung-min (first baseman), Reyes (left fielder), Han Dong-hee (designated hitter), Park Chan-hyung (third baseman), Jeon Min-jae (shortstop), Han Tae-yang (second baseman), Son Ho-young (right fielder), and Son Seong-bin (catcher). Na Gyun-an was the starting pitcher.

KIA countered with a lineup of Park Jae-hyun (left fielder), Kim Ho-ryung (center fielder), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Na Sung-beom (right fielder), Castro (first baseman), Han Jun-soo (designated hitter), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Ju Hyo-sang (catcher), and Kim Kyu-seong (shortstop). James Nail was their starting pitcher.

Lotte scored the first run in the bottom of the 1st inning, with Hwang Seong-bin's speed proving decisive. Leading off, Hwang hit a short infield grounder to the third-base side and successfully stole second base. Ko Seung-min reached on a walk. When Reyes grounded to the shortstop, Hwang advanced to third base, and Han Dong-hee drove him in with a sacrifice fly to center field.

In the 3rd inning, Lotte extended their lead by two runs. With one out, Reyes walked, followed by Han Dong-hee's hit to left-center and Park Chan-hyung's hit to right-center, loading the bases. A ground ball by Jeon Min-jae to center field resulted in an out at second base for the runner from first, but Reyes scored from third. Later, during Han Tae-yang's at-bat, Nail threw a wild pitch, allowing Han Dong-hee to score from third base, making it 3-0.

Ultimately, Lotte scored six runs in the 4th inning to effectively seal the game. Once again, Hwang Seong-bin's speed proved instrumental in rattling KIA. With one out, Hwang reached on a deep infield hit to shortstop and successfully stole second base despite three consecutive pickoff attempts by Nail. After advancing to third base via a sacrifice bunt, Hwang scored when Ko Seung-min hit a two-run single to left-center field.

Nail was then replaced by Sung Young-tak on the mound, a move reflecting KIA's determination to stay in the game despite trailing by four runs. However, Sung Young-tak struggled. When Reyes hit a double to left-center field, Kim Ho-ryung committed an error on the play, allowing Ko Seung-min to score from first base.

Han Dong-hee walked again, and when Park Chan-hyung grounded to second base, Kim Sun-bin's throwing error allowed Reyes to score from second base. The scoring didn't stop there. With two outs, Han Tae-yang hit a two-run single to left field, followed by Son Ho-young's two-run single to right field, extending the lead to 9-0.

KIA mounted a comeback in the top of the 6th inning, scoring two runs. After one out, Kim Ho-ryung hit a double down the left-field line. With two outs, Na Sung-beom drove him in with a sacrifice fly. Castro then singled to left-center field, loading the bases. Han Jun-soo followed with a two-run single to left field, making it 9-2. Starting pitcher Na Gyun-an was replaced by Hyun Do-hoon on the mound.

In the bottom of the 7th inning with two outs and runners on second base, Reyes hit a two-run single to left-center field, pushing the score to 10-2. In the bottom of the 8th, Kim Se-min hit his first career home run against KIA's Lee Tae-yang. Ultimately, Lotte defeated KIA 11-3 after the Tigers scored one run in the top of the 9th inning.

Lotte's starting pitcher Na Gyun-an pitched 5⅔ innings, allowing seven hits and one walk while striking out seven batters. He gave up two earned runs and secured his fifth win (with seven losses) of the season. The Lotte offense, which recorded a total of 17 hits, saw Hwang Seong-bin go 2-for-5 with two stolen bases, two runs scored, and Reyes go 3-for-4 with one RBI, two runs scored, and one walk. Park Chan-hyung and Son Ho-young also recorded multi-hit games.

In contrast, KIA's starting pitcher Nail pitched 3⅓ innings (61 pitches total), allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out two batters. He gave up five earned runs and took the loss for his fifth defeat of the season (with five wins). Although Kim Ho-ryung and Castro recorded multi-hit games, contributing to a total of 10 hits for KIA, the team fell short due to a lack of focus.

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*This content was translated by AI.