The dark ages, which were called “password 8-8-8-5-7-7,” are on the verge of repeating. The Lotte Giants have 18 more games to play. They need 13 wins among them. Can they make a miracle.
The Lotte Giants drew 1-1 in the 14th home showdown of the season between the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League SSG Landers and the team at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 7th.
There was a really tight game that we cannot guarantee which side will win. The resurgent Lotte “Glasses Ace” Park Se-woong showed his best pitching with quality start+ (less than three earned runs in seven innings) with 97 pitches, four hits, one walk and five strikeouts during seven ⅓ innings, and SSG starter Drew Anderson also recorded quality start (less than three earned runs in six innings) with 98 pitches, four hits, two walks and five strikeouts during six innings.
The first run was scored in the seventh inning. Lotte’s leadoff hitter Na Seung-yeop opened the scoring by garnering a hit against Seo Jin-yong, a changed pitcher after SSG starter Anderson went down. At that time, Lotte added pinch runner Jang Doo-sung to set up a winning run, but the chance seemed to be up in the air as the follow-up hitter Yoon Dong-hee struck out. However, as Jang Doo-sung stole the base on second base at Park’s at-bat, the runner settled in the scoring position, and Park brought the runner home to gain the upper hand.
Lotte handed over the mound to Kim Won-joong in the ninth inning after Park Se-woong blocked seven ⅓ innings without allowing a run, and Koo Seung-min took over the baton and ended the inning without a run. However, after catching the first batter Park Sung-han with a fly ball to right field to produce the first out count, Oh Tae-gon and Lee Ji-young made consecutive hits, creating a crisis of first and third base. Kim Won-joong, who failed to stabilize afterwards, gave up a walk to Ha Jae-hoon, causing even more crisis.
In the end, the game was at square one. Kim Won-joong allowed a sacrifice fly to Choo Shin-soo with the bases loaded with one out, resulting in a 1-1 tie. Still, he tied the inning without additional runs by tying the follow-up hitter Jung Joon-jae to the left field fly ball, and successfully extended the game. However, the result was not achieved as Lotte wanted. He had a chance to garner runners on the first and second bases with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning out of three extra innings, but failed to make a single hit at a critical moment, ultimately leading to a 1-1 draw.
With the season nearing its end, there is no critical game. However, Lotte desperately needed to win the game more than any other team. SSG was also competing for the possibility of ranking fifth. Notably, Lotte needed to win because it needed to pull down SSG, which is ranking seventh. However, the game ended up being tied with two outs to go, and as Lotte failed to regain the lead in overtime, it ended up with a bitter result as much as the loss.
Currently, Lotte has played the fewest games among the 10 teams. As of the end of the game on Friday, Lotte has 18 games to play. It means that there are many chances to make up for its sluggish start, which was the only game that could not even reach the top of 10 wins until the end of April. However, the possibility or hope is alive only when the team wins more. 안전놀이터 However, hope is fading as it kneeled down to the KT Wiz on May 5 and the Samsung Lions on May 6, and then drew on May 7.
This year, there is a more intense battle between the mid-ranked teams than ever before, so there is a high possibility that a team will win the postseason ticket despite finishing the season with a winning rate of less than 50%. Even at the end of the game on the 7th, the fourth-ranked Doosan Bears have a winning rate of 50%, but the fifth-ranked KT has a winning rate of only 0.495. Still, assuming that the minimum winning rate to secure a berth to the semifinals is 50%, how many wins will Lotte need to make it a “miracle” of advancing to the postseason.
At the end of Sunday’s game, Lotte had 57 wins, four draws and 65 losses in 126 games. Lotte has 18 more games to go. In order for Lotte to meet its 500-win rate, it needs to record at least 13 wins and five losses in the remaining 18 games. It means that it has to record a whopping 0.722 win rate. If it finishes the remaining season with 12 wins and six losses, its winning rate is 0.493, falling short of KT, which is currently ranked fifth. Therefore, the minimum win is 13 wins. This means that it is certainly not easy. Notably, 13 wins seem even more difficult considering that young players have been losing concentration lately.
Lotte aims to advance to the post season ahead of this season and handed over the baton to its “master” Kim Tae-hyung. However, the team has been gradually moving away from the fall baseball due to a flurry of injuries and collapsing credentials since the beginning of the season. If Lotte fails to achieve the miracle of “at least 13 wins” in the remaining 18 games, chances are high that Lotte will repeat its dark history of failing to advance to the post season for the seventh consecutive year from 2001 to 2007. Lotte is at the crossroads of repetition of humiliation or a miracle.
