It was a game where the breath and tenacity of the hitters and pitchers shined.
Lotte Giants' Park Se-woong made a starting appearance against the Hanwha Eagles on the 24th at Busan Sajik Stadium, pitching 6 innings with 4 hits allowed, 3 walks, 1 hit by pitch, 9 strikeouts, and 3 earned runs, and then left the mound after a quality start. The hitters did not miss the opportunities created by Park Se-woong and secured the victory. Lotte came from behind to win 5-3 against Hanwha, ending Hanwha's 9-game winning streak.
On this day, starter Park Se-woong could not escape a significant disadvantage against Hanwha in his career. He has a record of 1 win and 10 losses with an earned run average of 7.56 over 19 games (18 starts). However, in games played against Hanwha at Sajik Stadium, he recorded 1 win and 2 losses with an earned run average of 6.05 over 8 games. He pitched 7 innings, allowing 1 earned run against Hanwha on Aug. 27 last year, and although he had a relatively good performance with 6 2/3 innings allowing 4 earned runs (2 earned runs) on Sept. 13, he became the losing pitcher.
The first inning was fine. He got the lead-off hitter Ahn Chi-hong to ground out to third base, struck out Plourial, and struck out Moon Hyun-bin again.
The second inning was the problem. He gave up a left field single to lead-off hitter Noh Si-hwan. After that, he granted a walk to Chae Eun-sung and allowed another walk to Lee Jin-young. Although he made it 2 strikes by nullifying Lee Jin-young's sacrifice bunt attempt, he ultimately could not make an out. It was a crisis with no outs and the bases loaded. After striking out Lim Jong-chan, he managed to get Choi Jae-hoon to fly out to the second baseman, creating two outs with the bases loaded.
However, he ultimately could not escape the crisis. With two outs and the bases loaded, he gave up an infield single to the third baseman, failing to prevent a run. In a continued situation with two outs and the bases loaded, Ahn Chi-hong hit a 2-RBI single to center, increasing the scored runs to 3. Plourial struck out, preventing any additional runs.
In the third inning, he allowed a lead-off single to Moon Hyun-bin and committed a balk, beginning the inning with no outs and a runner on second base. He handled Noh Si-hwan with a great play from third baseman Son Ho-young. After a wild pitch, it led to another crisis with one out and a runner on third base. However, he struck out Chae Eun-sung and got Lee Jin-young to fly out to right field, overcoming the crisis once again. Right fielder Yoon Dong-hee made a sliding catch on a ball hit to the right-center.
In the fourth inning, he allowed a walk to lead-off hitter Lim Jong-chan. But after Choi Jae-hoon's sacrifice bunt was turned into a fly out to first base, he let out a sigh of relief, getting Shim Woo-jun to fly out to left field and striking out Ahn Chi-hong to end the inning. In the fifth inning, he first got Plourial to fly out to left field, then recorded a hit by pitch against Moon Hyun-bin. He handled Noh Si-hwan with a fly out to the second baseman, but allowed another walk to Chae Eun-sung. Despite finding himself in a two outs and runners on first and second base crisis, he struck out Lee Jin-young, ending the inning by throwing 98 pitches.
Park Se-woong took the mound again in the sixth inning. He pitched lightly against Hanwha's lower-order batters. After striking out Lim Jong-chan on three pitches, he got Choi Jae-hoon to ground out to third base, and then struck out Shim Woo-jun again, making it a perfect inning. He completed the quality start with 108 pitches.
Park Se-woong did his part. Now, for the victory, the hitters needed to step up. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, the hitters responded to Park Se-woong's strong performance. In the bottom of the sixth, Hwang Seong-bin and Yoon Dong-hee reached base with consecutive hits, and Go Seung-min's sacrifice bunt set up a 1 out, 2nd and 3rd base opportunity. Then Hanwha intentionally walked RAY on four pitches to set up a bases-loaded opportunity for Na Seung-yeop.
And Na Seung-yeop capitalized on the first pitch 134 km change-up from Ryu Hyun-jin with one out and the bases loaded, hitting a 2-RBI single to right and tying the game at 3-3. In the continued situation with one out and runners on first and third, Jeon Jun-woo's ground ball to the shortstop made it 4-3, turning the game around, and they added more runs in the eighth to seal the victory.
Starter Park Se-woong, along with the bullpen of Kim Sang-su, Jeong Hyun-su, Jeong Cheol-won, and Kim Won-joong, managed to prevent any significant scoring. The hitters also responded to the strong pitching of the pitching staff by concentrating on scoring to turn the game around. After the game, they praised each other. After the match, Park Se-woong noted, "I was not in good form early on, but with the defense's good plays in crisis situations, I could pitch comfortably. I also appreciate how (Yoo) Gang-nam led the game, especially in a situation where we were giving up runs, allowing me to pitch efficiently."
He emphasized, "In the sixth inning, the team turned the game around, and I want to credit our victory to my teammates. I will work harder to pitch for the fans who come to see us in the future."
Na Seung-yeop also stated, "Today, (Park) Se-woong hyung pitched so well that it seems we had a chance to attack. A 3-run difference is a score that can be overturned at any time. I think we had the opportunity because Se-woong hyung pitched so well."
With this victory, Lotte recorded 14 wins, 12 losses, and 1 draw, rising to a tie for 3rd place.
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