The Lotte Giants achieved their first consecutive wins of the season.
Lotte won the away game against the Hanwha Eagles in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League, held at Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park, with a score of 6-2.
Yoon Dong-hee exploded his first home run of the season with a solo shot in the 2nd inning, and starting pitcher Kim Jin-wook earned his first win of the season with an impressive performance of 5⅓ innings and 1 run allowed. In the 8th inning, Jeong Hoon hit a solo home run that sealed the victory, and Lee Ho-jun, who played as a starting shortstop for the second consecutive game, contributed with 2 hits and 1 RBI in 3 at-bats.
With the first two consecutive wins of the season, Lotte's record improved to 3 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie. Hanwha, suffering from two consecutive losses, now holds a record of 3 wins and 6 losses.
Lotte scored the first run against Hanwha's starting pitcher Moon Dong-ju in the top of the 1st inning. After one out, Son Ho-young hit a single to center, and Na Seung-yeob hit a double down the right field line, creating a scoring opportunity at second and third base. When Victor Reyes grounded out to first base, the runner from third, Son Ho-young, crossed home plate to score the first run.
In the top of the 2nd inning, they continued the momentum with a home run. Lead-off hitter Yoon Dong-hee crushed Moon Dong-ju's fifth pitch, a fastball clocked at 150 km/h, sending it over the 8m monster wall on the right side. This was the sixth home run hit at Daejeon new stadium, and it marked the first time a ball went over the right monster wall. The distance was 115m, representing Yoon Dong-hee's first home run of the season.
Continuing their attack, Lotte's Yoo Gang-nam reached base on a walk, followed by Lee Ho-jun hitting a 1-RBI triple into the left-center gap. He hit Moon Dong-ju's second pitch, a high fastball clocked at 150 km/h, well, and reached third base with his speed. This marked his first hit of the season. Then, Jeon Jun-woo's sacrifice fly to left field allowed Lee Ho-jun to score, and Lotte took a 4-0 lead.
Hanwha responded by scoring 1 run against Lotte's starting pitcher Kim Jin-wook in the bottom of the 3rd inning. With a single to center by Shim Woo-jun and a left field hit by Hwang Young-mook, they created a scoring opportunity with one out and runners on first and third. Esteban Florial's ground out to third base brought Shim Woo-jun home. However, Florial, who reached first base, was caught trying to steal second, ending the inning.
Immediately following, in the top of the 4th inning, Lotte extended their lead by 1 run. Against Hanwha's left-handed pitcher Jo Dong-wook, Kim Min-seong hit a single to center and Yoo Gang-nam hit a double down the left field line, leading to a bases-loaded situation. Although Jeon Jun-woo popped out to the catcher on the first pitch, Son Ho-young worked a full count and then drew a bases-loaded walk to stretch the lead to 5-1.
Hanwha fought back in the bottom of the 5th inning. With Lee Jin-young's walk and Lee Jae-won's single to left, they created a no-out opportunity with runners on first and second. Shim Woo-jun executed a surprise bunt on the first pitch, and although pitcher Kim Jin-wook fielded it and made the throw to first, it went wide, allowing Lee Jin-young, who advanced from second to third, to score. This was a result of a bunt hit by Shim Woo-jun and a throwing error by Kim Jin-wook. However, with no outs and runners on first and third, Hanwha's Hwang Young-mook struck out swinging after battling through seven pitches, and Ahn Chi-hong grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Lotte solidified their victory with Jeong Hoon's solo home run in the top of the 8th inning. In a full count battle with Hanwha rookie Jeong Woo-joo, he pulled a low 151 km/h fastball on the sixth pitch, sending it crashing into the net near the left field foul pole for his solo shot. The distance was 110m, marking his first home run of the season.
Lotte's starting pitcher Kim Jin-wook allowed 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3 batters and giving up 2 runs (1 earned) over 5⅓ innings, earning his first win of the season. With a total of 92 pitches, he reached a maximum speed of 146 km/h and averaged 143 km/h on fastballs (40 pitches), in addition to mixing in sliders (38 pitches), curves (10 pitches), and change-ups (4 pitches). His control was effective, allowing only 1 walk.
Following Kim Jin-wook, the bullpen consisting of Park Jun-woo (1 inning), Jeong Cheol-won (⅔ inning), Jeong Hyun-soo (1 inning), and Kim Won-joong (1 inning) maintained their lead without allowing any runs. Park Jun-woo earned his first hold in his debut, while Jeong Cheol-won recorded his third hold of the season.
Hanwha's starting pitcher Moon Dong-ju was early pulled after allowing 4 hits (including 1 home run), 1 walk, and 4 runs over 2 innings, suffering his first loss of the season. He threw a maximum speed of 157 km/h, but perhaps due to the cold weather, his average fastball speed was 151 km/h, which was lower than his first appearance on the 27th of last month against LG (153 km/h). He mixed various pitches, throwing fastballs (20 pitches), two-seam (2 pitches), sliders (11 pitches), curves (6 pitches), and forkballs (3 pitches), but struggled to find his timing against Lotte's hitters.
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