Lotte lost 0-3 in an away game against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 10th. Lotte, which recorded 66 wins and 73 losses (0.475 winning rate) this season, erased the last remaining tracking number on its own and confirmed its elimination from the fall baseball stage.
Lotte was so helpless that it was questionable whether it was the team that was holding on to the last string of hope. Lotte's three hits, Han Dong-hee in the first inning, Ahn Kwon-soo (infield hit) in the third inning, and Goodrum (double) in the seventh inning, were all team hits. In the process of stepping down with two consecutive three-and-out innings in the eighth and ninth innings, three, or half of the six outcounts, were three strikeouts. He didn't feel much motivated to keep Tragic No. 1.
Pitchers couldn't hold out as the batters showed lethargy. Starting pitcher Lee In-bok continued to pitch scoreless until the third inning, but he lost the first point after hitting a double by Kim Hyun-soo and a triple by Austin Dean in the bottom of the fourth inning. Afterwards, Lee In-bok, who gave up one more run with a sacrifice fly to Oh Ji-hwan, blocked it with two runs until the fourth inning and took the mound again in the fifth inning.
The bottom of the fifth inning became a nightmare for Lee In-bok. Lee In-bok, who walked leadoff hitter Kim Min-sung after a full count match, threw a ball that hit Huh Do-hwan's body in the first pitch, causing a crisis of first and second bases with no outs. Although he seemed to be shaking, the Lotte bench left Lee In-bok to take the mound. In the end, Lee In-bok allowed Park Hae-min to make a three-run first pitch, widening the score to 0-5.
Nevertheless, the Lotte bench did not lower Lee In-bok. In the end, Lee In-bok allowed a hit to Moon Sung-joo and even gave up a steal, and in the process, Yoo Kang-nam's throwing error came out, putting him on the verge of one out and third base. Later, when Kim Hyun-soo grounded out, Han Dong-hee made a catch error, making it one out and runners on first and third bases, and Lotte lowered Lee In-bok and put in Lee Jin-ha. Lee Jin-ha gave up two more runs with a sacrifice fly to Austin and an RBI timely double to Moon Bo-kyung to end the fifth inning. 스포츠토토
Lotte made two errors in the process of allowing big innings in the fifth inning, and Bae Young-bin added an error in the seventh inning. Lotte, which recorded three mistakes, equal to three team hits, followed its previous losses until the last game. While the starting pitcher fought hard, the batting line was silent, and Lotte's collapse at once with errors in the loss process was a scene that Lotte has shown countless times.
Lotte, which was helplessly defeated even in the last game of being eliminated from the fall baseball, eventually suffered the humiliation of failing to advance to the postseason for the sixth consecutive year. The failure to advance to the fall baseball league for the sixth consecutive year is the longest since the KBO League changed to a 10-club system in 2013. Since the launch of the 10-team system, Lotte has tasted fall baseball only in 2017 (3rd place) out of 11 seasons so far this year, and has experienced a bitter taste of elimination in the remaining 10 seasons.
This season, Lotte had higher expectations for fall baseball than ever. Lotte, which was ranked No. 1 at the end of April, competed for the top spot at the end of May, ranking third by two games with No. 1 LG. However, at the end of the first half, the 50% winning rate collapsed (38 wins and 39 losses), falling to fifth place and falling to seventh place at the end of July. Lotte, which failed to make a turnaround since then, eventually ended up with a familiar season ending after only advising fans with "Spring Day," which was a little longer than usual.