‘Aces don’t crumble’ Lotte momentum symbol Na Kyun-ahn says team win came first ‘Hot hug at the end’
The Aces have faltered, but not collapsed.
In his last three appearances, he has gone at least six innings and given up just two runs. Giants ace Na Gyun-ahn pitched another strong game in front of a packed house at Sajik Stadium, earning a standing ovation.
Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 3rd, hosting the Lotte Giants and KIA Tigers. Lotte, who had dominated the previous day with a 14-2 victory, sent their ace Na Kyun-ahn to the mound to bounce back, while KIA sent foreign pitcher Medina to the mound to start.
Early in the game, Lotte starter Na Gyun-ahn was in trouble first.
In the first inning, KIA leadoff hitter Ryu Ji-hyeok hit a 142km fastball to the middle of the infield. Unassisted, first baseman Park Chan-ho flicked the ball to second baseman Park Seung-wook, who missed the catch. Park Seung-wook quickly makes the catch and throws to second, with the runner out. Socrates struck out. With runners on second and first, Park Chan-ho threw to second on the first pitch from Choi Hyung-woo. The throw was safe.
Na Gyun-an, who was on the mound, confidently went to the dugout to request a video review, which overturned the original call and ruled the second baseman out.
With a confident call for a video replay, Na got through the first inning, the most difficult inning for a starting pitcher.
In the top of the second inning, Lotte starter Na Kyun-an was in trouble once again, as Choi Hyung-woo led off with a double, followed by a walk to Ko Jong-wook and a single to Lee Woo-sung. Coach Bae Young-soo went to the mound to try and stop the bad run. Na Gyun-an made eye contact with Bae on the mound, and he laughed casually even with the bases loaded. Bae patted the ace on the shoulder without giving him any orders and headed to the dugout.
With the bases loaded and Kim Seok-hwan on first, Na Gyun-an gave up a full-count single to lead off the inning. Shin Beom-soo followed with a sacrifice fly. After giving up a single to Ryu Ji-hyuk, Na Gyun-ahn struck out Park Chan-ho to end the long inning.
As he stepped off the mound, Na looked at the scoreboard to check his pitch count. A pitch that he thought went into the strike zone was declared a ball, which ultimately led to a run.
Lotte starter Na Gyun-an struggled to adjust to the strike zone early in the game, giving up three runs. After a brief shake-up, the ace regained his composure and stayed on the mound until the sixth inning.
Trailing 3-0, Lotte attacked in the sixth inning. In the bottom of the inning, Yoo Kang-nam doubled and Jeong Hoon followed with an RBI single, giving Na Kyun-ahn the win. Taking over the mound in the seventh inning, Koo Seung-min’s chance to pick up his sixth win of the season was short-lived as he allowed the tying run to score.
LOTTE came back to tie the game in the next inning. In the top of the seventh, Jeon Jun-woo led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch before Ahn Chi-hong hit a game-winning single.
In the eighth inning, left-hander Kim Jin-wook gave up a walk to Choi Hyung-woo before giving way to Kim Sang-soo. In the top of the eighth, Lee Chang-jin hit a forked ball off Kim Sang-soo’s first pitch for a single to tie the game again. 메이저놀이터
Closer Kim Won-joong, who took the mound in the eighth inning, recorded four outs until the ninth.
With one out in the top of the ninth, Noh Jin-hyuk hit a grand slam over the top of the right field fence to end the long game.
After the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth, Na Gyun-an rushed over to Noh and gave him a big hug.