“Birthday present? Park Se-woong should throw it well.”
The manager’s wish didn’t come true. The Lotte Giants’ Park suffered his ninth loss of the season, snapping the team’s winning streak.
Park started against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium on Friday, giving up four runs in 5⅔ innings before being pulled in the sixth inning. He threw 102 pitches.
Lotte lost the game 3-4, giving Park his ninth loss of the season.
Not only was he unable to complete all six innings, and his seven hits and five walks (four balls and one strikeout) were unsatisfactory, but he was most disappointed with the fact that he lost a 3-0 lead and fell back to 3-4. They haven’t added a win in seven games and 48 days since their last victory against the Busan KIA Tigers on June 27 (6 wins).
It is the birthday (lunar calendar) of Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung.
When asked about birthday gifts for his players, he said, “I hope Park Se-woong pitches well.” It was not an easy wish.
Lotte took a two-run lead in the top of the second inning on a leadoff single by Reyes, a double by Na Seung-yup, and an RBI single by Park Seung-wook.
In the top of the third inning, Hwang Sung-bin singled, stole second, and Son Ho-young grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Doosan’s Choi Won-joon made it 3-0. However, 메이저사이트 the inning ended with a strikeout of Son Ho-young, which changed the mood.
The bottom of the third inning started with a walk to Doosan’s Cho Su-sung. Jung Soo-bin singled to put runners on first and third. Jared struck out to load the bases, and Yang induced a double play grounder to third.
That’s where the bad luck came in, as the ball didn’t come out of the glove of third baseman Son Ho-young. Son looked at second base, then back to first base, and moved his hand, but the ball didn’t come out of his glove. Yang Ji-hyun scored on an infield single. Yang Seok-hwan followed with an RBI single.
However, Kim Jae-hwan threw out Yang’s home dash on a fly ball to left field.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the game was back to even. Two batters later, Lee gave up a double to left-center, and Cho sprinted to first base to make a safe catch on a slow grounder to second. While he was distracted, he was unable to stop Lee from sliding home. Tied 3-3.
In the bottom of the fifth, Park gave up back-to-back singles to Jung Soo-bin-Jared to put runners on first and second, but he roared back by striking out Yang Ji-hyeon on a 643 pitch and then fouling off Yang Seok-hwan.
The joy was short-lived. In the bottom of the sixth, he gave up a solo shot to Doosan leadoff hitter Kim Jae-hwan. A 146-kilometer fastball was hit hard. It was an uncharacteristic 105 meters, but it was enough to frustrate Park Se-woong. It was the final hit of the day.
Park was unable to complete the sixth inning and handed the mound to Jin Hae-soo with the bases loaded. Jin closed out the inning and no further runs were allowed. His season ERA increased to 5.39. He is now tied for last place with Kim Kwang-hyun among the 20 pitchers who pitched a regulation inning.
Lotte had been on a roll in August with a 7-1 record, with the only loss coming on August 9 against KT Wiz when Park Se-woong snapped a four-game winning streak.
The team recently rebounded with three straight wins, but the streak was snapped again on the day Park took the mound. Lotte’s woes only deepened.