[Anchor]
The race for third place in professional baseball will ultimately go down to tomorrow's (October 12) final game of the regular season. With KIA stumbling against Lotte, third place will be decided in tomorrow's showdown between KIA and the fourth-place LG.
Reporter Yu Byeongmin has the details.
[Reporter]
KIA could have secured third place with a win, but their batting lineup failed to get going.
They were completely shut out by Lotte starting pitcher Kim Jin-wook, managing only 3 hits and no runs through 6 innings.
KIA starting pitcher Oller gave up a bases-loaded crisis after allowing Lotte's Reyes, the league leader in hits, to hit his 207th hit of the season in the 6th inning, and then surrendered a grand slam over the center field wall to Han Dong-hee.
As third-place KIA lost 4 to 1, their lead over fourth-place LG narrowed to half a game, meaning third place will now be determined in the final game between KIA and LG held tomorrow in Gwangju.
KIA's Yang Hyeon-jong and LG's Im Chan-gyu have been announced as starting pitchers for the all-important matchup with a direct ticket to the semi-playoffs on the line.
KT's Hilliard hit back-to-back home runs in today's game against Samsung, tying with KIA's Kim Do-young for the league lead at 44 home runs and leading his team to a blowout victory.
KT's Choi Won-jun, who is competing with Reyes for the most hits title, drew a walk and tossed his bat in frustration, prompting KT veteran catcher Jang Sung-woo to call a team meeting and sharply reprimand him.
[Jang Sung-woo / KT Catcher: Did you crawl out here just to pad your own stats! Act right. Do you all understand!]
In the 9th inning, Choi Won-jun hit his 205th hit of the season to trail Reyes by 2, and then shed tears next to Jang Sung-woo.
(Video Editing: Hwang Ji-young)
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