The Lotte Giants are facing a literal ‘dark cloud’. After Na Gyun-ahn, Park Se-woong has fallen into a slump.

Park started the first game of a doubleheader against the SSG Landers at Sajik Stadium in Busan on Sept. 9 and gave up five runs on 10 hits in five innings.

Park has been Lotte’s rock this season. From April 18 against the LG Twins in Jamsil to May 22 against the KIA Tigers in Busan, he recorded six consecutive quality starts (six innings or more and three earned runs or less).

However, it was the Daejeon Hanwha Eagles game that remained a “trauma” for Park since his debut. On May 28, Park suffered the humiliation of giving up 10 runs in 4⅔ innings, his most in a single game. Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung made him throw 112 pitches to get through it, 안전놀이터 but he didn’t last five innings before being pulled.

The team has been struggling for three consecutive games. He also came off the mound after giving up four runs in 4⅔ innings against the Busan NC Dinos on April 2.

Park’s struggles continued against SSG on the same day.

What’s even more concerning is that his struggles were not just one-off, but were accompanied by symptoms of a ‘string of hits’.

In a pre-game interview, Lotte coach Kim Tae-hyung said about Park Se-woong, who started the first game, “I don’t know what to do with him. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. Can he always throw well?” and expressed his unwavering trust in him and his wish for him to overcome.

There’s no excuse for the weather. There was a light drizzle around noon, but the sun came out and the game was played in sunny conditions. Kim Kwang-hyun pitched six innings with six hits, two walks, and no runs.

However, Park gave up a double to leadoff hitter Choo Shin-soo in the second inning, putting runners on second and third. That’s when Park’s nightmare began.

SSG Kim Min-sik led off with a single to right, followed by Park Ji-hwan’s double to center, Choi Ji-hoon’s RBI double to left-center, 파워볼게임 and Park Sung-hwan’s RBI double to left-center, and the scoreboard was 4-0 in no time. The Akmun comeback didn’t work.

Park Se-woong gave up a solo shot to Park Ji-hwan in the top of the fourth to make it 5-0 before being replaced by Park Jin in the bottom of the fifth. The frustration was evident on his face.

By the fifth inning, he had thrown 95 pitches. Fastballs (37) reached up to 148 kilometers. He threw a mix of sliders (38), curves (12), changeups (5), and forkballs (2). His pitches weren’t bad, but he’s in an inexplicable slump.