289th minute hard-fought loss → sweep loss against KT → 4 straight losses… “We lost, but Lotte DNA is stronger” Sutton’s hopeful song
“I want to tell you it hasn’t been easy.”
The Lotte Giants, coached by Larry Sutton, have been struggling lately. With 29 wins (22 losses) on the season, Lotte is on the verge of reaching the 30-win mark and has lost four straight games. They are now five games behind the first-place SSG Landers (35 wins, 18 losses, and one tie) and 2.5 games behind the second-place LG Twins (33 wins, 21 losses, and two ties).
The sweep of the KT Wiz at home in Busan from the 6th to the 8th was particularly painful. On the 6th, Park Se-woong pitched six innings of two-run ball, but was held in check by opposing starter Ko Young-pyo (seven innings of one-run ball) and lost 1-4.
They also lost in extra innings on the 7th and 8th. On the 7th, Charlie Barnes pitched 7 innings of 1-run ball, but the offense couldn’t get going, and the final run scored on a wild pitch by Kim Do Kyu was even more disappointing.
On the eighth, he gave up the win after 289 minutes of hard work. After falling behind 0-5, they bounced back with a five-run seventh inning and a dramatic tiebreaker in the bottom of the ninth, only to fall victim to a squeeze bunt in the top of the 12th.
Sutton must have been disappointed. “I’ll tell you it wasn’t easy, and of course it was a disappointing game,” Sutton said ahead of the Samsung Lions game at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on September 9.
“But Barnes and Park made quality starts and fought hard. In the previous day’s match, the players also fought hard. Two of the three matches were 토토사이트 lost by one point,” he said, encouraging the players.
We are dreaming of going beyond ‘Bomde’ to ‘Topde’. In order to go higher, they need to overcome the crisis. Sutton also sees the sweep against KT as a step on Lotte’s path to becoming a powerhouse.
“Looking at the positives, it showed the championship culture we want to create, playing like a championship team. Our players didn’t give up. Even though we lost, I think our identity, our DNA, came out of the series stronger.”