Kiwoom Heroes vs. Lotte Giants: How a Thrilling Extra-Inning Showdown Led to a 6-5 Victory!

Oh Seon-jin / Photo=DB

[Sports Today reporter Shin Seo-young] The Kiwoom Heroes avenged the previous day’s loss, edging the Lotte Giants in an extra-inning battle.

Kiwoom beat Lotte 6-5 on April 29 at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.

The win evened the series for Kiwoom, which improved to 11-16 and held onto ninth place.

Lotte remained at the bottom of the standings at 8-1-17 (wins-ties-losses).

Kiwoom starter Oh Seok-ju lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing five hits, two walks and two runs while striking out three. Reliever Park Jin-hyeong worked two scoreless innings, giving up one hit, two walks and two strikeouts to pick up the win.

At the plate, Oh Seon-jin delivered the game-winning hit in the 11th, finishing 2-for-5 with an RBI. An Chi-hong heated up as well, going 3-for-6 with a solo homer, one RBI and two runs scored.

Lotte starter Rodríguez threw 6 1/3 solid innings, yielding four hits (two homers), two walks, three strikeouts and three runs, but did not factor into the decision. Kim Won-joong took the loss after 1 1/3 innings, allowing two hits, one walk, one strikeout and one run.

Kiwoom opened the scoring with a bang. In the top of the first, with two outs and nobody on, An Chi-hong belted Rodríguez’s second pitch — a 132 km sweeper — over the left-field wall for a solo home run.

Lotte answered in the bottom of the second. Leadoff hitter Yoon Dong-hee singled to left, and after Yoo Kang-nam struck out with the bases empty, Jeon Min-jae ripped an RBI double to left to bring Yoon home.

Lotte built on that momentum in the bottom of the fourth. Yoon drew a walk and Yoo followed with an RBI double, giving Lotte a 2-1 lead.

Kiwoom regained the lead in the top of the fifth. After one out, Im Ji-yeol battled Rodríguez to a full count and drew a walk. Choi Joo-hwan grounded out, but Im Byeong-uk crushed a two-run homer to deep center-right, measured at roughly 120 meters, to put Kiwoom up 3-2.

Lotte fought back in the bottom of the seventh. Jang Du-seong reached on a hit-by-pitch and Reyes followed with a single to create a no-out, 1st-and-3rd opportunity. Noh Jin-hyuk hit into a double play, but Jang scored from third to knot the game at 3-3.

The seesaw duel continued. Kiwoom took a 5-3 lead in the top of the eighth after a throwing error by the Lotte pitcher with one out and the bases loaded. In the bottom of the eighth, Lotte answered with Yoon’s double and Park Seung-wook’s two-run homer to tie it again. The teams remained deadlocked through nine innings and went to extras.

Kiwoom ultimately prevailed in the 11th. Leadoff hitter Choi Joo-hwan opened the inning with a double to left and advanced to third on Im Byeong-uk’s bunt. On Oh Seon-jin’s squeeze, pinch-runner Song Ji-hoo raced home, giving Kiwoom the lead.

Kiwoom brought in closer Yuto for the bottom of the 11th. After issuing walks to Jang Du-seong and Reyes and yielding a sacrifice bunt by Noh Jin-hyuk, Yuto faced a bases-loaded, one-out jam. He struck out Jeon Jun-woo and induced a foul pop to the catcher from Yoon Dong-hee to end the game without allowing a run.

[Sports Today reporter Shin Seo-young sports@stoo.com]
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