Lotte Giants’ “Glasses Ace” Park Se-woong pitched his best game of the season to give his team the win.
Lotte improved to 59-66 (.472) with a 5-2 win in the 14th game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against SSG Landers at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on April 22.
Park Se-woong, who started on the mound, pitched six innings of three-hit ball, striking out four and walking two to earn his eighth win of the season. He was facing one of the league’s best aces in Kim Kwang-hyun, and it was his last start before being called up to the Korean Baseball Organization’s 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games squad. However, Park settled into his rhythm early in the game and pitched well.
It didn’t start well. Park gave up a leadoff single to Shin-Soo Choo in the top of the first inning. The Tigers scored the first run of the inning, but the lead was quickly erased by a home run.
But Park wouldn’t be rattled anymore. He retired the next three batters, Choi Ji-hoon, Choi Jeong, and Guillermo Heredia, with two strikeouts to end the first inning. In the bottom of the third, he gave up a walk to Choo Shin-soo with two outs, but got Choi Ji-hoon to fly out to end the inning.
Park Se-woong gave up another long hit, just like in the first inning. In the bottom of the fourth, he gave up a solo shot to Choi Jeong, the leadoff hitter, over the left field fence. This is the second time he has given up more than two home runs in a game since April 23 against the Changwon NC Dinos (2). Fortunately, both of Park’s homers were 토토사이트 one-run shots, so the impact wasn’t as severe.
Keeping his composure after his second homer, Park struck out Eredia, Park Sung-hwan, and Choi Joo-hwan in the bottom of the fourth inning on 12 pitches, and in the bottom of the fifth, after a leadoff walk by Han Yoo-seom, he struck out the next batter, Kim Min-sik, and Kim Sung-hyun.
In the bottom of the sixth, Park Se-woong gave up an infield single to Choi Ji-hoon in the first inning, but then induced grounders to Choi Jeong and Heredia to end the inning. The Tigers scored a run in the top of the seventh to give Park the win, and the bullpen completed the win with a scoreless relay.
While it was unfortunate for Park to have to leave the game while the team was on the rise, he was able to take home a victory in his last appearance before the tournament and head to the national team with a lighter heart. Lotte acting manager Lee Jong-woon said, “Park Se-woong pitched well in his last outing before the Asian Games. He followed the lead of catcher Yoo Kang-nam well.”