Game Summary
The NC Dinos outlasted the Lotte Giants in a marathon pitching duel Wednesday night, earning a 9-8 victory in front of a raucous crowd at Sajik Stadium. Neither team could pull away decisively, but the Dinos’ deeper bullpen finally broke through in the late innings, with Im Ji-min picking up the win and Kim Tae-hun recording the save.
It was the kind of game that left both benches exhausted. Eight pitchers took the mound for NC alone. The Giants countered with seven arms of their own. Runs came in spurts rather than momentum shifts—a solo shot here, a couple of runs bunched together there. By the end, Lotte had managed 14 hits but couldn’t string them together when it mattered most.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC Dinos | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 0 |
| Lotte Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 20 | 0 |
Pitching Performance
Starter Todo set a reasonable foundation for the Dinos, working five innings and allowing two runs on nine hits. He wasn’t dominant, but he kept the game manageable. The problem came later, when NC’s bullpen infrastructure temporarily cracked.
Son Ju-hwan couldn’t record an out. Kim Jin-ho came in for damage control and managed one-third of an inning. Then Lee Yong-jun gave up two more runs in just one-third of an inning—the kind of sequence that normally costs you ballgames. But the Dinos’ lineup kept answering.
For Lotte, starter Kim Jin-wook labored through five innings, surrendering six runs on eight hits with five strikeouts. He couldn’t hold the line early, and that deficit proved too steep to overcome. The Giants’ bullpen—Hyun Do-hun, Iimura, Choi Jun-yong—actually pitched well in relief, combining for three scoreless frames. Too little, too late. Kim Won-joong, who typically bridges the gap in the ninth, entered cold and immediately allowed three runs without recording an out, essentially deciding the game on the spot.
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC Dinos | ||||||
| Toda | 5 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Son Ju-hwan | 0 ⅓ | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kim Jin-ho [H] | 0 ⅔ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Lee Yong-jun | 0 ⅓ | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Jeon Sa-min | 1 ⅓ | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Min [W] | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Kim Tae-hun [S] | 0 ⅓ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lotte Giants | ||||||
| Kim Jin-wook | 5 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| Hyun Do-hoon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Iimura | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Choi Jun-yong | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kim Won-joong [L] | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Lee Young-jae | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Park Jeong-min | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Offensive Highlights
Park Gun-woo was the most impressive hitter on the field, collecting three hits in five at-bats and driving in three runs. He added a stolen base for good measure—the kind of two-way production that changes close games. Park Min-woo chipped in with three hits as well, staying busy at the plate all night.
NC’s power came from Kim Ju-won, who homered in the fourth inning for his fifteenth of the season. Cheon Jae-hwan added a two-run blast in that same frame, giving the Dinos early breathing room. Lee Woo-sung, despite limited opportunities with just one at-bat, made it count with a hit and an RBI.
The Giants’ offense centered on Reys, who went 5-for-6 and drove in two runs—one of the few bright spots in a frustrating loss. Han Dong-hee supplied power with a solo homer in the eighth but also grounded into a double play earlier in the contest. Na Seung-yeop accumulated three hits but couldn’t generate run production. Yoon Dong-hee and Ko Seung-min added depth without breaking through.
| Batter | AB | H | R | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC Dinos | |||||
| Kim Ju-won | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Lee Woo-sung | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Park Min-woo | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kim Hui-jip | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Park Gun-woo | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kwon Hee-dong | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lotte Giants | |||||
| Na Seung-yeop | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reyes | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Han Dong-hee | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Ko Seung-min | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Yoon Dong-hee | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Han Tae-yang | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Key Plays
The game’s turning point arrived in the ninth inning, where the Dinos manufactured three runs without hitting the ball particularly hard. Wild pitches from both sides played a role—Kim Won-joong threw two, and Im Ji-min threw one—but the real issue was Lotte’s inability to make pitches in crucial spots. NC’s hitters fouled off tough pitches and worked counts, capitalizing when the Giants got behind.
Han Dong-hee’s double play in the sixth inning loomed larger than it seemed at the time. That’s a momentum killer when you’ve got runners in scoring position and need to cut into a lead. Yellow Sung-bin’s double play in the third similarly deflated what could have been an early Lotte rally.
Standings Impact
The victory keeps the Dinos in sixth place with a 48-54-2 record, though they’re trending upward after a rough stretch. Lotte remains in seventh at 50-57-2, and this loss stings because it was winnable. Neither team has made significant movement in the standings lately, but in a compressed playoff race, every game carries weight. The Giants will need to rediscover some offensive consistency soon, or they’ll drift further from contention as the season enters its final month.