He bowed again.
바카라 Lotte Giants’ Park Se-woong started the game against the Kiwoom Heroes of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on 9 September.
Park is 4-6 with a 3.44 ERA in 18 games this season. There have been many days when he has pitched well but failed to secure a win, most notably in June when he went 1-1 with a 1.56 ERA in five games.
Park Se-woong’s Beasts collapsed due to a heartbreaking error. Photo by Chun Jeong-hwan
July was shaky. He went 3-3 with an 8.40 ERA in July, but bounced back on the first day of August with a seven-inning, eight-hit shutout against the NC Dinos, striking out seven and walking two.
He started the game well, getting Lee Yong-gyu to ground out to second base. He gave up a single to Kim Hye-sung, but struck out Ronnie Dawson and Kim Hui-jip.
But in the second inning, the trusted outfielder made an error. He gave up a single and a walk to leadoff hitter Song Sung-moon and Lee Ju-hyung. Kim Tae-jin then came to the plate and had a chance to score the winning run, but a throwing error by shortstop Gudrum allowed Song Sung-moon to come home with only one out. He then gave up a walk to Kim Soo-hwan, but Kim Dong-heon singled to bring in the winning run.
The third inning was no laughing matter. He gave up a leadoff single to Lee Yong-kyu. A wild pitch followed, allowing Kim Hye-sung to hit a single to tie the game. After giving up a hit to Dawson, he struck out Kim Hwijip to give himself a breather, but he was in more trouble. A walk to Song Sung-moon was followed by an error by first baseman Ko Seung-min on a throwing error by Lee Ju-hyung to put two runners on base, and then another walk to Kim Tae-jin put his head down.
Park Se-woong was not smiling as he tried to win his fifth game in 47 days. Photo by Chun Jeong-hwan
Eventually, the Lotte bench opted to make a change. They dropped Park and brought up Choi Yi-jun.
It was the first time this season that Park failed to complete less than three innings. His lowest innings of the season was 4.1 against the KIA Tigers on 28 July. He was rocked for six runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks with one strikeout in 2.1 innings. He threw 70 pitches. It was his fifth win of the season since 23 June against the LG Twins, but he failed to get any help from the field. Choi Yi-joon finished the inning without allowing an earned run and Park Se-woong’s deficit did not increase.
The top of the fourth inning is currently underway with Kiwoom leading 6-1.