'Walk-off grand slam → 8 runs allowed → 7 runs allowed' — Why is Lotte's mound in such disarray... Even the trusted 'LG killer,' Saemaeul Scovel Kim Jin-wook, has collapsed. [Busan Field Report]

*This content was translated by AI.

It seems two days were not enough to recover from the shock of both the closer and the foreign ace collapsing one after another. With even Kim Jin-wook (24), whom they had trusted as 'Saemaeul Scovel,' falling apart, the Lotte Giants have now fallen into a four-game losing streak.

On the 29th, Lotte suffered a 3-8 loss in extra innings and a rain-shortened game ending in the 7th inning against LG Twins at their home game held at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium during the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season.

With this defeat, Lotte has now dropped to four consecutive losses, sitting at 50 wins, 2 ties, and 61 defeats in seventh place. With only 31 games remaining in the 2026 season, they trail fifth-place Doosan Bears — who hold a playoff berth — by 9.5 games.

The most painful aspect of their recent losing streak has been the successive collapse of trusted pitchers. It began on the 25th during the Gwangju KIA Tigers game. In the bottom of the 9th inning with two outs and bases loaded while Lotte led 5-4, closer Kim Won-jung allowed a walk-off grand slam to Lee Ho-yeon. Following this shocking comeback loss, Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung replaced the closer with Iimura Shota. In the next game, foreign pitcher Alvin Rodriguez collapsed. On the 26th against Gwangju KIA, he started and pitched only 3⅔ innings while allowing eight runs before being pulled early, surrendering momentum from the start of the game.

Heavy rains that struck the southern region prevented games from being played for two days, giving Lotte time to regroup. The starting pitcher was changed from Na Gyun-an to Kim Jin-wook, who had previously performed well against LG, drawing high expectations. This year, Kim Jin-wook has appeared in 21 games with a record of 6 wins and 5 losses, an ERA of 3.37, and 105 strikeouts over 120⅓ innings, establishing himself as the ace. Against LG, he went 3-0 with no losses, posting an ERA of 2.37 in three games — strong enough to be called a killer or nemesis.

But this time, expectations were betrayed. Kim Jin-wook collapsed over 4⅓ innings, allowing nine hits, two walks, four strikeouts, and seven runs, taking on his sixth loss of the season (with six wins). He struggled against LG's persistent lineup from the start and ultimately failed to complete five innings.

On this day, Kim Jin-wook mixed a four-seam fastball (39 pitches) clocked at up to 149 km/h with sliders (36 pitches), curves (7 pitches), changeups (5 pitches), and two-seam fastballs (1 pitch), throwing a total of 88 pitches. He issued an unusually high number of pitches in the middle of the plate, which coincided with LG's aggressive approach from the very first pitch, leading to relentless hitting against him.

He began to lose control in the top of the 2nd inning. After one out, he gave up a double down the line to Koo Bon-hyuk, followed by Hong Chang-gi's single to left field and Shin Min-jae's walk, putting runners on base with two outs. He then allowed a bases-loaded walk to Park Hae-min, giving up the first run, before Austin Dean hit a two-run double that struck the left-field wall.

Lotte's lineup managed to score one run each in the 2nd and 3rd innings, narrowing the gap to 2-3, suggesting a comeback might be possible. However, Kim Jin-wook could not hold on through the 5th inning. He allowed a single to leadoff hitter Park Hae-min down the line and a two-run double by Austin down the left-field line, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Song Chan-ui then hit a two-run double that struck the center-left field wall, followed by another sacrifice fly, widening the score gap.

Eventually, Lotte's bench removed Kim Jin-wook from the mound. However, the relievers who replaced him — Kim Han-gyeol and Lee Young-jae — could not stop the momentum. After allowing a bases-loaded situation via a surprise bunt and walks, they gave up consecutive walk-off runs through hit-by-pitches and walks, enabling LG to score five runs in just the 5th inning. Lotte's Han Dong-hee did hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 6th to narrow the gap, but it was already too late. Heavy rain poured down in the bottom of the 7th, causing two game interruptions before LG was declared the winner via a rain-shortened game.

The fact that their most trusted pitchers have been collapsing one after another has made this losing streak particularly painful. Moreover, Kim Jin-wook, who took the mound today, will be away from Lotte for about two weeks due to his selection for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games national team as of the conclusion of games on the 14th.

Kim Jin-wook's absence will be filled by rookie Kim Han-gyeol, who has a 9.39 ERA in the first division, and second-year player Kim Tae-gyun (20), who has not yet appeared in the first division but posted a 6.04 ERA in the Futures League. Given that every win matters at this stage, the weight of Kim Jin-wook's loss today feels even heavier.

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*This content was translated by AI.