Lotte returned to its home base in Busan with a losing streak after its 2024 Baseball World Series game against the Kia Tigers was canceled due to rain at the Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on Monday. Manager Kim Tae-hyung, who had lost four consecutive games to start the season, expressed mixed emotions and was determined to get his first win. The team hadn’t lost four games in a row since he took over.
“Isn’t this sweet? I’ve been on a losing streak, so everything is bitter,” Kim said as he drank a fruit drink before the press briefing. “I don’t know if canceling today’s game will help or not, but now it’s the home opener, and we have to do well (in Sajik). Some teams win and some teams lose. We have to fight and win.”
Lotte dropped its opening two games against SSG Landers. 카지노사이트 They lost the first game 3-5, and in the second game, they scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game at 6-6, but were hit by a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth. The team traveled to Gwangju, South Korea, for the 26-27 series. They lost the first game 1-2 and the second game 2-8. It was hard for Kim to accept the defeat.
The bats just didn’t click. They scored just 12 runs in four games.
They are also batting just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Foreign batsman Victor Reyes has been doing his part with a batting average in the high teens, but the rest of the batting order hasn’t been in great shape. The table-setters don’t get many runs and the center fielders don’t pose much of a threat to opponents. Injuries to Han Dong-hee and Kim Min-seok have also been a problem.
Kim said, “Our pitching is good, but our batting is not very good. We faced good pitchers from the beginning, so our bats were blocked. We need to break out. We have to work hard. I look weak because I can’t hit. It’s not just because the manager says, ‘Do this, do that. You have to be comfortable with it. If you try to hit well, you’ll be stiff at the plate,” he said.
He continued, “(Yoon) Dong-hee is not in good shape. Go Seung-min is also batting confidently, but he doesn’t have enough experience in the field. Reyes is playing his role consistently. (Noh) Jin-hyeok has good timing, but he can’t hit. The former backups are starting now. They have to do it anyway,” he added.
“We just have to keep doing it and keep looking for it,” Kim said, adding that he has a new determination. Lotte will play its home opener against the NC Dinos on Sept. 29 at Sajik Stadium. Kim announced Aaron Wilkerson as the starter, rather than Lee In-bok, 토토사이트 who was scheduled to start the game. Wilkerson gave up four runs on six hits (two home runs) in five innings with eight strikeouts in the opener. In the end, the first win in the opener will come down to the bats coming together.
