BUSAN, South Korea (Interstat) — In a wild affair that saw all 13 runs scored in the first four innings, the Shinsegae Landers survived a furious comeback attempt by the Lotte Giants to secure a 7-6 victory Saturday evening at a packed Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium.

A crowd of 23,200 watched as the Landers, the visiting team, erupted for seven runs in a chaotic top of the first inning, sending 11 men to the plate against Lotte starter Kyoyama Masaya. Park Seong-han led off with a double and the onslaught was on. Kim Jae-hwan, Choi Ji-hoon and Kim Seong-uk each delivered run-scoring singles, with Seong-uk’s hit plating two. Kyoyama recorded only one out before being relieved by Park Jeong-min, who eventually stopped the bleeding but not before Shinsegae had built a daunting seven-run cushion.

The Giants, undeterred and showing resilience after a 17-2 drubbing by the same opponent just a day earlier, immediately began chipping away in the bottom half against Shinsegae starter Moon Seung-won. Moon struggled with his command, walking the first three batters he faced. Han Dong-hui brought two home with a single, and No Jin-hyuk followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-3.

Lotte continued its push in the second when catcher Yoo Kang-nam launched a solo home run to center field. The comeback gained serious momentum in the third inning when No Jin-hyuk atoned for his earlier sac fly by crushing a two-run homer to left-center, scoring Han Dong-hui who had walked. That blast brought the Giants within two runs and chased Moon Seung-won from the game.

The most important part of the game, however, was Shinsegae’s immediate response to that momentum shift. In the top of the fourth, the Landers answered Lotte’s two-run homer with two runs of their own to restore a more comfortable margin. Guillermo Heredia doubled and scored on Choi Jeong’s single. After a Kim Jae-hwan single, Ko Myeong-jun ripped a double down the left field line, scoring Jeong to make it 9-5. That counter-punch proved critical, as it established the final margin and halted the Giants’ building momentum.

From there, the game transformed into a bullpen duel. The Shinsegae relief corps of Noh Kyung-eun, Kim Min, Lee Ro-un, Jo Byeong-hyeon and Jeon Young-jun combined to stifle the Giants over the final 6 1/3 innings. They allowed just one unearned run on three hits, repeatedly working out of jams. Lotte’s relievers, including Choi Jun-yong, were equally effective after the early damage, keeping the Giants within striking distance.

Lotte’s final threat came in the seventh. Han Dong-hui doubled with one out, but Shinsegae’s Jo Byeong-hyeon struck out No Jin-hyuk and, after an intentional walk, got Yoo Kang-nam to ground out to end the inning. The Giants plated their final run in the eighth on a defensive miscue but could not complete the comeback.

Shinsegae’s offense amassed 14 hits, with Park Seong-han, Heredia, Choi Jeong, Kim Jae-hwan and Choi Ji-hoon each collecting multiple hits. Lotte managed only seven hits, with Han Dong-hui’s double and home run and No Jin-hyuk’s two-run homer serving as the key blows.

With the win, the Landers improved to 6-1 on the young season, solidifying their strong early form. The Giants fell to 2-5, continuing a difficult start. The two teams conclude their three-game series Sunday afternoon in Busan.

The final combined score of 13 runs fell under the pregame over/under line of 10.5, despite the first-inning explosion. Shinsegae covered the spread as a 1.5-run favorite. The result slightly outperformed the projection from Interstat’s game simulator, which had forecast a 5-3 Landers victory, and validated their pregame ELO probability, which gave Shinsegae a 55.3% chance to win.