'Shock Defeat' Lotte Makes Sudden Decision, Removes Manager Kim Tae-hyung 'Closer Changed to Japanese Iimura' [Gwangju Field]

*This content was translated by AI.

Following a shocking walk-off defeat the previous day (the 25th), the Lotte Giants are regrouping and planning a counterattack. They have announced their starting lineup for the second game of the midweek three-game series. They also declared they will change their closer. Asian quota player Iimura will take responsibility for closing games.

Lotte will play an away regular-season game against the KIA Tigers at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field at 6:30 p.m. on the 26th in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.

The previous day (the 25th), Lotte lost 5-8 after Kim Won-jung allowed a walk-off, bases-loaded home run to pinch-hitter Lee Ho-yeon with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

With this defeat, Lotte recorded 50 wins, 59 losses, and 2 ties for the season, placing them alone in sixth place in the league. They maintained sixth place by being one game ahead of seventh-place Hanwha Eagles and two games ahead of eighth-place NC Dinos in winning percentage, with no gap in games behind.

Quickly recovering from the shock is the top priority.

Today, Lotte set their starting batting order as follows: Hwang Seong-bin (center fielder), Na Seung-yeop (designated hitter), Reyes (left fielder), Han Dong-hee (third baseman), Go Seung-min (first baseman), Han Tae-yang (second baseman), Jeon Min-jae (shortstop), Son Seong-bin (catcher), and Jang Du-seong (right fielder). The starting pitcher is Rodriguez.

Compared to the previous day, the batting order from first to seventh remains unchanged. Son Seong-bin, who batted ninth the previous day, has moved to the eighth spot in the lineup. Yoon Dong-hee was excluded from the starting lineup. Instead, Jang Du-seong will start as the right fielder. Yoon Dong-hee has been somewhat underperforming recently, with a batting average of only 0.179 over his last 10 games.

Before the game, Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung said, "Starting today, Iimura will take over as closer. Currently, he offers the most stability. He can control his pitches well," expressing confidence in him.

Manager Kim continued, "(Kim) Won-jung is unlikely to serve as the closer for the remainder of this season."

Meanwhile, facing Lotte, KIA set their starting batting order as follows: Lee Ho-yeon (second baseman), Park Sang-jun (first baseman), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Castro (left fielder), Na Sung-beom (designated hitter), Ha Joo-seok (shortstop), Kim Ho-ryeong (center fielder), Kim Tae-gun (catcher), and Park Jung-woo (right fielder). The starting pitcher is Hwang Dong-ha.

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*This content was translated by AI.