The Lotte Giants defeated the league’s strongest pitcher, Eric Peddie, to end a four-game losing streak.

Lotte won 6-3 against the NC Dinos in the regular season of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Sajik Stadium in Busan on April 2. With the win, Lotte snapped a four-game losing streak.

Lotte’s defeat was deeply felt. The previous day, they lost 3-6 in 11 extra innings. They had to face Eric Peddy, who leads the league in wins, ERA, and winning percentage.

Pedi had pitched 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball against Lotte on March 12, giving up four hits and two walks while striking out six. We expected a similar outcome today. Everyone favored NC and Pedi.

However, Lotte kept the pressure on Pedi. In the second inning, with runners on first and third, Park Seung-wook singled, and in the second inning, Pedi’s wild pitch scored a run to take a 2-0 lead. After a back-and-forth battle, the score was cut to 2-3, but in the bottom of the fourth inning, the one-homer hitter Lee Jung-geun hit a grand slam to left field to make it 4-3. Goodrum followed with an RBI single to make it 5-3 in the sixth.

LOTTE then utilized the bullpen of Koo Seung-min, Choi Jun-yong, and Kim Won-joong to preserve the three-run lead. Kim Won-jun recorded his 18th save of the season and 95th of his career. He surpassed Son Seung-rak to become the club’s all-time saves leader.

After the game, Sutton said, “Barnes pitched a quality start and had a lot of pitches before the sixth inning, but I trusted him to go one more inning. The bullpen pitched with everything they had,” Sutton said.

“Offensively, we did a good job of staying focused and applying pressure early on against one of the best pitchers in the league. In particular, Jung-geun Jung not only played great defense, but also offensively with a crucial home run to swing the momentum in our favor. It was a game that the players pulled together as a team to win in a difficult situation.”

With the series tied at 1-1, the two teams will challenge each other in a three-game best-of-three series. Lotte will start Park Se-woong and NC will start Taylor Widener. 파워볼게임