"Barnes showed fantastic pitching as a starter"
The Lotte Giants won their second straight game with a 3-1 victory over the Kiwoom Heroes in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on April 8.
Starting pitcher Charlie Barnes did his part with 5⅔ innings of one-hit ball, one walk and seven strikeouts. The bullpen of Kim Sang-soo (⅓ scoreless inning), Koo Seung-min (1 scoreless inning), Choi Jun-yong (1 scoreless inning), and Kim Won-joong (1 scoreless inning) preserved the win. Won-joong Kim earned his 20th save of the season.
Head coach Larry Sutton said in a postgame interview, "Barnes pitched a fantastic game on the mound. He had great command of his pitches. His command of his pitches and his aggressiveness was a big part of it."
At the plate, Kim Min-seok went 3-for-3 with a double, two walks, and a run scored in his first five plate appearances. Lee Jung-hoon, Ahn Chi-hong, and Noh Jin-hyuk also had multi-hit games, with Ahn's RBI single in the eighth inning proving to be the game-winner.
Sutton said, "Offensively, we got on the board first, and then we came out focused late in the game and got the extra run. It's always good to see Wonjoong Kim do his job as a closer. We had a lot of fans supporting us, which really helped the players to get the win. We will continue this atmosphere," said Kim after the victory.
Lotte has announced Park Se-woong as the starting pitcher for Game 9. Ariel Furado will start for Kiwoom. 파워볼