The Lotte Giants lost the game due to unfortunate errors and defense. Their losing streak reached five games. Lotte’s top five is slipping away.

Lotte lost 1-3 at home against the KT Wiz of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan at 6:30 p.m. on May 25. With its fifth straight loss, Lotte remains in seventh place with 50 wins and 56 losses on the season.

The game was a tight pitching battle. KT Wiz ace Wes Benjamin and Lotte’s Aaron Wilkerson showed what a classic pitching battle is all about throughout the game.

After scoring a run in the top of the first inning, Lotte immediately gave up a run on an error. With one out in the top of the second, Anthony Alford doubled and Moon Sang-chul grounded out to second base. Bae Young-bin, who caught Oh Yoon-seok’s grounder to shortstop, committed a bad throw to first base. Alford took advantage of the error and came home from third. It was a waste of a run for Lotte.

The top of the fifth inning was also disappointing. KT WIZ leadoff hitter Lee Ho-yeon hit a deep ball to the second baseman. Second baseman Ahn Chi-hong threw to first base, but Lee’s feet were much faster.

However, Han Dong-hee, who was playing first base on the day, was unable to catch Ahn’s throw and dropped it backward. Catcher Yoo Kang-nam, who was standing as a backup at first base, received the ball, but Yoo gave an ambiguous underthrow to Han Dong-hee. The runner didn’t make it to second base, but Lotte’s defense was on full display.

A shaky Wilkerson made a throwing error to first base with two outs in the top of the fifth. Although he didn’t allow a run, the error was contagious. 스포츠토토

The eighth inning also saw him give up a hit to Jang Jang-woo. With two outs and runners in scoring position in the top of the eighth, Jang hit a ball between the third baseman and shortstop. Given the pitch and speed, Goodrum had plenty of room to make the catch, but Goodrum was unable to handle the ball. With that score, Lotte handed the game to KT WIZ.

The loss was Lotte’s fifth straight. Lotte’s momentum from early to mid-August was completely gone. The gap between them and the fifth-place Doosan Bears has now grown to 4.5 games. With only 38 games left to play, the 4.5-game gap seems like a huge barrier.

Lotte was once on top of the standings, including a nine-game winning streak for the first time in 15 years, but now it looks like they’re going to miss the postseason, something they’ve done every year since 2017. What will happen to Lotte’s chances of making it to the Top 5, so far, are cloudy.