GWANGJU (Interstat) — Lotte Giants scored early and never trailed, defeating the Kia Tigers 8-3 on Wednesday afternoon at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in front of 20,500 fans.

The Giants jumped ahead with a run in the first inning and added two more in the second, building a 3-0 lead. Lotte starter Kim Jin-uk worked six innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits while striking out three, to earn the win.

The most critical stretch came after the Tigers pulled within 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Kia’s Kim Ho-ryung doubled to right-center to score Han Jun-su, and Park Min followed with a single before Kim Kyu-sung struck out and Park Jae-hyun also struck out to end the threat. The Giants answered immediately in the top of the ninth. With one out, Son Ho-young doubled down the left-field line and Han Tae-yang singled to center, scoring Son. After Kim Dong-hyeok struck out, Han stole second and then walked, putting runners on first and second. Jeon Min-jae grounded to third, but an error by the third baseman allowed Han to score and Son Seong-bin to advance to second, pushing the lead to 8-3. Hwang Seong-bin grounded out to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Lotte’s offense collected 10 hits, led by Hwang Seong-bin, who went 3 for 5 with two RBIs. Hwang singled and scored in the first, singled and drove in a run in the second, bunted for a hit in the fourth, and walked with the bases loaded in the eighth to force in a run. His two RBIs were part of a balanced attack that included a solo home run by Cho Se-jin in the third inning and a run-scoring single by Han Tae-yang in the ninth.

Kia managed seven hits, with the biggest blow coming from third baseman Kim Do-yeong, who hit a solo home run in the third inning to cut Lotte’s lead to 4-2. Kim finished 1 for 4 with the homer and an RBI. Na Sung-bum had a pair of singles and scored a run in the second. Han Jun-su singled twice and scored in the seventh.

Kim Jin-uk’s outing was supported by a strong bullpen. Park Jeong-min pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing one hit and striking out two. Kim Won-jung worked a perfect ninth inning, and Hyun Do-hoon tossed a scoreless seventh. For Kia, reliever Lee Hyeong-beom was effective, throwing two shutout innings with one strikeout. Kwak Do-gyu allowed two hits but no runs in one inning, Kim Beom-su retired two batters on 0.2 innings with a strikeout, and Choi Ji-min pitched a clean eighth inning.

The game marked the second contest of a three-game series between the division rivals. Lotte improved to 22-31-1, while Kia fell to 29-26-1. The Giants had lost the previous day’s game 5-4 to the Tigers but rebounded with the victory.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Kia Tigers 5, Lotte Giants 3. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Kia with a 61.90 percent probability to win. Kia had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 10 went under the over/under line of 9.0.