▲ Park Se-woong ⓒ Lotte Giants
Sajik, Busan — Lotte Giants right-hander Park Se-woong finally snapped a personal 11-game losing streak Tuesday, picking up his first win in 280 days and putting an end to a frustrating stretch. He acknowledged the slump had taken a toll, but said the result was a relief.
On May 10 at Busan’s Sajik Stadium, Park started against the KIA Tigers in the teams’ sixth matchup of the 2026 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League season. He worked six innings, threw 85 pitches, allowed four hits, walked three, struck out four and surrendered two earned runs to earn the victory.
Park opened last season in dominant form. Starting in his second appearance on March 29 against the KT Wiz, he ran off eight straight wins, beating the Doosan Bears, NC Dinos, Kiwoom Heroes, Hanwha Eagles, Kiwoom again, SSG Landers and KT. At that pace, a career year looked within reach.
But after the winning streak ended, his results began to slip. Following a Quality Start+ on Aug. 3 at Gocheok against the Kiwoom Heroes, Park didn’t register another win until this outing and slid into an 11-game personal skid. Still, his struggles weren’t simply a matter of pitching poorly every time.
For example, on April 12 against Kiwoom he threw six innings and allowed two runs — a Quality Start — yet didn’t walk away with the win. Even solid outings failed to translate into wins. Tuesday’s game was different: Park finally ended the streak and secured his first victory of the season.
▲ Park Se-woong ⓒ Lotte Giants 
▲ Park Se-woong ⓒ Lotte Giants
The game didn’t begin smoothly. After getting leadoff man Park Jae-hyun to ground out, Park yielded three straight hits to Park Sang-jun, Kim Sun-bin and Kim Do-young that produced the game’s first runs. With one out and runners on second and third, Aderlin Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to make it 0-2. Park then closed the inning without further damage and settled into a rhythm.
He retired the bottom of the order — Jared Dale, Kim Tae-gun and Kim Gyu-seong — in order in the second, and finished the third after a pickoff. In the fourth he issued a leadoff walk to Kim Do-young but worked out of the inning unscathed. In the fifth, he struck out Park Sang-jun with two outs and a runner on second, putting him in position for the win.
With his pitch count still manageable, Park returned for the sixth. He got quick groundouts from Kim Sun-bin and Kim Do-young, then issued a walk to Aderlin before striking out Kim Ho-ryung to complete a Quality Start (six innings, three earned runs or fewer). Lotte won, and Park recorded his first victory of the season.
On finally getting a win, Park said, “Whether you win or lose, if you pitch well and don’t get the win, it stings less. But it hadn’t been easy to even pitch well recently, so this one feels that much better.”
He credited his game plan for the turnaround. “I stuck to the pitches I can throw, and that helped. I didn’t have many big misses or fall into too many unfavorable counts, so things worked out. Saying ‘it just wasn’t going well’ would be an excuse — I think I could’ve executed better and should have.”
▲ Park Se-woong ⓒ Lotte Giants 
▲ Park Se-woong snapped an 11-game personal skid and earned his first season win — his first in 280 days since the Aug. 3 game vs. the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok last year.
Park said there was a reason he exited despite a reasonable pitch count. “I felt some discomfort in my hip starting in the fourth inning. The manager and pitching coach were considerate and let me finish early. They checked me and I did some warmups afterward; I don’t expect it to affect my next start,” he said.
He also expressed remorse toward the younger pitchers on the staff. “I felt bad for the younger guys (Na Gyun-an, Kim Jin-wook). If I’d been in better condition, they might have gotten an extra day off. If I’d pitched like I did earlier last season, their burden would’ve been lighter. Those guys have taken on the roles I needed them to and handled them so well — I’m grateful.”
Park acknowledged the harsh realities of professional sports and praised his manager’s support. “I’m thankful to the manager. Even during my struggles he kept believing in me and giving me opportunities, and that trust helped me find my form again. Earning starts as a starter isn’t easy; having the manager’s confidence when I showed signs of trouble made a difference.”
He closed with a focus on momentum. “It’s important to build on this first win. It matters to me and to the team. I want to keep contributing and help produce good results. Our starting staff is earning solid evaluations, and if I do my job we can sustain that through the end of the season. Everyone’s playing well, so I’ll push myself to keep those evaluations going until the finish,” he said, clenching his fists in emphasis.
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