Lotte Giants vs NC Dinos

Lotte struck first with two runs in the bottom of the first. Han Dong-hee drove in the opener with an RBI single, and later scored on a Na Seung-yeop hit to put the Giants ahead 2-0.

NC responded in the third. An Joong-yeol singled to ignite the rally, and a double from Kim Ju-won followed by a groundout brought the Dinos to within 2-1. A sacrifice fly tied the game at 2-2. Park Min-woo singled home another in the fourth to give NC a 3-2 lead.

The score stayed there until the sixth, when Lotte clawed one back to level at 3-3.

The decisive sequence unfolded in the seventh. With runners on first and second and nobody out, Ko Seung-min — who entered the day batting .276 — crushed a 2-1 pitch from NC reliever Kim Jin-ho deep to left-centre for a three-run homer, his tenth of the season. The blast put Lotte ahead 6-3 and chased Kim from the game.

NC cut the deficit to 6-4 on a Kim Hui-jip RBI single in the top of the eighth, but Lotte answered with two more in the bottom half — Han Dong-hee delivering his second RBI of the afternoon — to stretch the lead to 8-4. The Dinos managed one final run in the top of the ninth via a sacrifice fly, but Choi Jun-yong shut the door, striking out one in a clean inning to seal the win.

Kim Jin-ho had entered the seventh inning with NC holding a narrow 3-3 tie gained when Ryu Jin-wook escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth. Kim faced three batters: a single, a walk, then Ko's three-run homer. He did not record an out. Lotte had been 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position before Ko cleared the bases. The swing shifted Lotte's win probability from roughly 50% to north of 85% with one swing, and the Dinos never recovered.

Ko Seung-min (Lotte Giants) — Player of the Match 1-for-3 with the go-ahead three-run homer. The tenth long ball of the season for the 26-year-old infielder, and arguably his most impactful — it turned a deadlocked game into a comfortable lead.

Han Dong-hee (Lotte Giants) 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Consistent throughout, he set the tone with the first-inning RBI single and added insurance in the eighth.

An Joong-yeol (NC Dinos) 4-for-4 with an RBI in a losing effort. The only Dino to reach base in every plate appearance, he was a constant nuisance for Lotte pitching but received insufficient support.

Park Se-woong (Lotte Giants) Earned the win after 6.2 innings of work. He scattered nine hits and allowed only two earned runs while walking three and striking out two, giving Lotte the stability to stay within striking distance.

NC out-hit Lotte 13-11 and committed one fewer error (1 vs 2), yet lost by three runs. The gap lies in sequencing: Lotte went 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position while NC managed only 3-for-12. The Dinos stranded nine baserunners, including six in scoring position across the first six innings. Lotte's two-run first and seventh-inning explosion — three runs on two hits — were the only multi-run frames of the game, and they proved decisive. Park Se-woong's ability to limit damage despite allowing nine hits — holding NC to 2-for-7 with RISP against him through 6.2 innings — was the quiet difference-maker.

The win moves Lotte Giants to 46-57-2, still anchored in eighth place in the ten-team KBO but gaining a game on the seventh-placed Dinos, who drop to 46-52-2. Both sides sit well outside the playoff picture — the top five qualify — but the season series now stands at 6-3 in favour of NC, suggesting the Dinos have the superior long-term head-to-head record even after this defeat.

Lotte next face the Dinos again in the series finale on Sunday 16 August at Sajik, with first pitch at 11:00 KST. NC travel to face the Hanwha Eagles on Tuesday 19 August.

Ko's seventh-inning blast masked what was otherwise a scrappy, evenly-contested game decided by bullpen fragility rather than offensive dominance. NC's 13 hits produced only five runs, while Lotte made the most of their 11. Kim Jin-ho's disastrous outing — three runs, no outs — was the single inning that decided it, turning a winnable game into a loss that further dims NC's faint postseason hopes.