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| Yun Dong-hee / Photo=DB |
[Sports Today reporter Shin Seo-young] The Lotte Giants leaned on a powerful lineup to roll to a convincing win.
Lotte defeated the Hanwha Eagles 12-6 in a home exhibition at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on March 21 as part of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League exhibition schedule.
After dropping an exhibition game to the Doosan Bears a day earlier, Lotte bounced back to move to 6 wins, 2 ties and 1 loss in the preseason, keeping them alone atop the standings. Hanwha fell to 4-5.
Lotte starter Rodriguez earned the win, working four innings and allowing five hits, one walk and three runs while recording three strikeouts.
The Lotte offense produced 16 hits and 12 runs. Standouts included Son Ho-young (3-for-3, 2 RBIs, 3 runs, 1 walk), Yun Dong-hee (3-for-3, 1 RBI, 2 runs, 1 walk) and Jeon Jun-woo (3-for-4, 2 RBIs, 1 run).
Hanwha starter Eom Sang-baek took the loss, giving up 10 hits, one walk and seven runs over four innings.
Hanwha struck first. In the top of the first, Oh Jae-won and Peraza delivered back-to-back singles and Moon Hyun-bin drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Noh Si-hwan then smoked Rodriguez’s third pitch — a 141 km cutter — into center for a two-run double to put Hanwha up 2-0.
Lotte answered in the bottom of the first. After one out, Son Ho-young and Yun Dong-hee hit consecutive singles to put runners on first and second. Jeon Jun-woo followed with a single to left and a throwing error by the left fielder allowed Son to score. With two outs and runners at second and third, Han Tae-yang delivered an RBI single to even the game at 2-2.
Lotte kept pushing. In the bottom of the third, Son drew a walk and Yun doubled to set up a no-out, runners at second and third situation. Jeon’s infield hit brought Son home. Noh Jin-hyuk hit into a double play, but Yun scored on the play and Lotte took a 4-2 lead.
Hanwha fought back. In the top of the fourth, with two outs and nobody on, Ha Joo-seok singled to left and Heo In-seong followed with an RBI double to left-center, pulling Hanwha within 4-3.
Lotte extended the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Consecutive singles by Lee Ho-joon and Shin Yun-hoo produced a two-out, runners at second and third chance, and Son ripped a two-run double to left. Yun then doubled into the left-center gap and Lotte led 7-3.
Hanwha didn’t go away. In the top of the sixth, leadoff hitter Kang Baek-ho singled off reliever Park Jun-woo and Chae Eun-sung followed with a double to right, putting runners at second and third with no outs. Hanwha added two runs on Ha’s groundout and Shim Woo-jun’s double, trimming the deficit to 7-5.
Lotte put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth. After two outs, Son singled off reliever Lee Sang-gyu, Yun drew a walk and Jeon Jun-woo added an infield single to load the bases. Noh delivered an RBI infield hit. Jeon Min-jae was then hit by a pitch to force in a run, and Son Sung-bin followed with a two-run single off Hwang Jun-seo, capping a four-run sixth inning for Lotte.
Lotte added another run in the bottom of the eighth when Noh Jin-hyuk doubled and an opposing error produced an extra run, stretching the lead to 12-5. In the top of the ninth, Lotte turned to closer Jeong Cheol-won. Jeong allowed an infield single to Choi Yoo-bin with two outs and a runner at second, but he struck out Lee Jin-young swinging to end the game.
[Sports Today reporter Shin Seo-young sports@stoo.com]
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