The surge of Lotte, which took the lead alone in the league, came from the rebound of the starting team.

At the beginning of this season, Lotte always solved difficult games with the sluggish starters except for Na Kyun-an. Thanks to the performance of the bullpen, such as Koo Seung-min, Kim Jin-wook, and Kim Won-joong, as well as the bats blowing fire in front of the scoring position, they were able to avoid being pushed out of the competition for the lead at the beginning of the season.

Lotte defeated Hanwha 3-1 after an extended game on the 16th and took the lead in the league. The pitching of Charlie Barnes (28), the “left-handed lion,” was fierce. Barnes won the team by overwhelming the Hanwha batting line with a good pitching that day, allowing 1 run and striking out 8 in 7 innings.

Barnes started 4 games in April and failed to do his part with 1 win (1 loss) and 7.58 ERA. However, Barnes showed a comeback by recording a 1-0 ERA of 0.66 in two starts in May, including the previous day’s game.안전놀이터

The accompanying rebound of Dan Strayley (35) was effective. Strayley threw below expectations with a 2-loss ERA of 5.82 in five starts in April, but showed successful pitching in both starts in May.

Strayley, who recorded a loss despite pitching well with 2 runs in 6 innings against Doosan on the 9th, got his first win of the season with 6.1 scoreless innings against KT on the 14th. Strayley’s May ERA is just 1.46.

Ahead of the Hanwha match at Daejeon Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park on the 17th, Lotte coach Sutton said, “The most encouraging thing is that Barnes and Strayley showed improvement in two consecutive games.”

Coach Sutton continued, “Park Se-woong and Han Hyun-hee are also showing an improvement over the last game in each appearance. The starting rotation is getting stronger.”