"Don't go, Bu-kang!" A shark appears and Lotte explodes for 43 runs → Five straight wins! The "Giant" shakes up the KBO's final standings

*This content was translated by AI.

After a shark appeared in Busan's North Port, the "Giant" forgot how to lose. Now, it is poised to do more than just extend its winning streak; it aims to stir up the KBO League's final-season race for standings.

Lotte Giants defeated Hanwha Eagles 9-5 in a regular-season away game at DaejeonHanwhaLifePark on the 23rd during the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League season.

This marks five consecutive victories. Lotte, now sitting in 8th place with 58 wins, 2 draws, and 71 losses, closed the gap to 7th-place SSG Landers (58 wins, 5 draws, 70 losses), who also lost on the same day, by just half a game. Meanwhile, the gap to 9th-place Hanwha, which fell into a nine-game losing streak, widened to 3.5 games.

Even on this day, Lotte's bats swung ferociously. With 13 hits total from both long and short hits, Victor Reyes (32) stood at the core with 4-for-5 performance (1 home run), 4 RBIs, and 1 run scored. Ko Seung-min (26) contributed 3-for-5 with 2 runs, while Hwang Sung-bin (29) added 2-for-3 with 2 walks and 3 runs. Starting pitcher Park Se-woong (31) struggled for 5⅓ innings, allowing 9 hits (2 home runs), issuing 2 walks, striking out 4 batters, and giving up 4 earned runs, but the hot offense secured the victory.

However, the timing of Lotte's five-game winning streak is uncanny. It began on the morning of the 18th when a shark approximately 3.5 meters long appeared at the North Port Waterfront Park in Dong-gu, Busan. The National Fisheries Research and Development Institute estimated the shark to be a basking shark, and the Busan Metropolitan Government opted not to forcibly remove it due to its low aggression, instead allowing it to swim out to the open sea on its own.

At first, everyone was in a panic. The Coast Guard was dispatched, and alert text messages were sent to citizens. But as the shark continued to stay in the waterway for several days and frequently revealed itself to citizens, displaying "star-like" behavior, it even earned the nickname "Bu-kang-i," becoming a new celebrity of Busan. In response, both the Busan Metropolitan Government and Dong-gu District Office have changed their stance and are now promoting it as a new mascot.

Coincidentally, from the very day Bu-kang-i first appeared, Lotte has never lost. From the 18th to the 23rd, Lotte swept all five games played. What is even more surprising is the process of the winning streak. During this period, the team's ERA was 4.00, ranking tied for 3rd in the league, but the offense was simply on fire. The team recorded a batting average of 0.372 and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 1.052. Even KT Wiz, which ranked 2nd in batting during the same period, posted a team batting average of 0.303 and an OPS of 0.856.

It is even more astonishing when considering the reputation of the opposing starting pitchers. They faced NC Dinos' ace Lee Jae-hak (36) right from the start. Later, they went up against Samsung Lions' native duo Choi Won-tae (29) and Won Tae-in (26) in succession, and in Daejeon, they had to face Hanwha's "monster" Ryu Hyun-jin (39).

However, no one could suppress Lotte's bats. During the five-game winning streak, Lotte scored at least 5 runs in every game. In particular, they hammered Won Tae-in for 11 hits over 3⅓ innings, inflicting a painful 9-run loss. Ryu Hyun-jin also allowed 5 earned runs in 3 innings against Lotte's lineup, ending his final appearance of the season with a defeat. In total, they scored an incredible 43 runs across five games, averaging 8.6 points per game. Thanks to this, Bu-kang-i has become incredibly popular among Lotte baseball fans. On social media and elsewhere, enthusiastic reactions followed, such as "Don't go, Bu-kang!" and "Let's keep Bu-kang-i in Busan for a long time."

Naturally, there can be no causal relationship between the shark at North Port and Lotte's winning streak. However, baseball is sometimes a sport where such coincidences become interesting stories. The reason we can no longer view the "Bu-kang-i effect" merely as entertainment is that Lotte's winning streak has begun to shake up the final-season standings race.

The schedule is also interesting. On the 24th, Lotte will face 3rd-place LG at Jamsil, followed by a match against 5th-place Doosan at the same venue on the 25th. After resting for a day, they return to Sajik on the 27th to play 9th-place Hanwha, and on the 29th, they will face last-place Kiwoom. In October, they will play three away games against top-ranked KT, which still has a magic number of 10 remaining. After that, they will host Doosan and KIA, who are fiercely competing for 4th place, at their Busan home. If Lotte maintains its current momentum, it could shake not only its own standings but also the entire upper-tier landscape.

Fall baseball is already out of reach. This season's head-to-head records against the top five teams were all unfavorable: 5 wins and 8 losses against LG, 5 wins and 9 losses against Doosan, 5 wins and 8 losses against KT, and 4 wins, 1 draw, and 9 losses against KIA.

However, that does not mean the significance of the remaining 13 games disappears. Ending a disappointing season listlessly is clearly different from concluding it while confirming the possibility of a comeback. Above all, the performance shown during the five-game winning streak was excellent. The question of how long they can maintain this recent trend, where the entire lineup has come alive rather than relying on one or two specific players, holds significance for Lotte as it prepares for the 2027 season.

Moreover, all opponents they will face next—KT, Doosan, and KIA—are in the midst of a fierce standings battle. For Lotte, there is a reason to finish the season well, and they could become an unwelcome "chili powder unit" for the opposing teams.

And that unexpected turning point began with an unfamiliar guest at Busan's North Port. Lotte fans might hope that Bu-kang-i stays in Busan a little longer. The Giant's run, which started alongside Bu-kang-i, is now shaking up even the final standings of the KBO League.

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*This content was translated by AI.