Hanwha Eagles Moon Dong-joo (21) showed off his “lion killer” side.
Moon Dong-ju took the mound as a starting pitcher in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League match against the Samsung Lions at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 8th, and recorded six hits, two walks, eight strikeouts and three runs (two earned runs) in five innings. Hanwha won 6-4 thanks to “captain” Chae Eun-sung’s four hits and four RBIs, including multiple homers, while Moon Dong-ju won six games (seven losses) for the season.
Starting from the top of the first inning, Hanwha had two runs thanks to Noh Si-hwan’s sacrifice fly and Chae Eun-seong’s timely hit. Moon started the game after receiving support for scoring runs, but was shaken up early in the game. He allowed a walk to Kim Ji-chan, a pitch hit by Yoon Jeong-bin, and a walk to Koo Ja-wook in the bottom of the first inning, causing the team to be loaded with no outs. He seemed to be taking a breather by treating Kang Min-ho as a foul fly ball, but failed to pass Kim Young-woong to allow a timely two-run hit. With runners on the first and third bases with one out, Moon did not allow any additional runs as he struck out Lee Sung-kyu and grounded out Lee Jae-hyun to the third base.
Moon gained stability from the second inning. He handled Ryu Ji-hyuk with a fly ball to center field, and Kim Hyun-joon with a swing and miss strikeout, before getting a hit off Kim Ji-chan. He sent the runner to second base due to an error in check, but allowed Yoon to swing and miss, and ended the inning without allowing a run.
In the third inning, a strikeout show took place. After striking out leadoff hitter Koo Ja-wook with a big curve ball, Moon threw a 159km/h fastball against the next batter, Kang Min-ho, but suffered a critical hit. Moon, who was on the second base with one out by committing a balk, struck out swinging with an outside fork ball after a game with Kim Young-woong on the sixth pitch. Lee Sung-kyu also had a game of full count on six pitches, and added a strikeout with a sharp slider.
In the top of the fourth inning, Hanwha took a 3-2 lead thanks to Chae Eun-sung’s timely hit. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Moon treated Lee Jae-hyun with a fly ball to the left field, and Ryu Ji-hyuk and Kim Hyun-joon hit consecutive times, putting him on the first and third bases with one out, but after a close game, he induced a ground ball to the second base, which went up to the full count with Kim Ji-chan, and managed to get out of the crisis without losing a point by hitting a double play.
He allowed a tie in the fifth inning due to an error. In the top of the fifth inning, Moon Dong-ju slipped while trying to catch leadoff hitter Yoon Jeong-bin’s ground ball. He rushed to throw to the first base, but missed even this, allowing the runner to get on base. Moon Dong-ju, who struck out Koo Ja-wook, failed to pass Kang Min-ho and was hit a timely double to tie the game. In the process, Kang Min-ho, who was aiming to reach the third base, was caught on a rundown and the second out count went up. With two outs and no runner on the ground, Moon Dong-ju ended the day’s pitch by striking out a swing and miss with a fastball on his body after a full count match with An Jung-hyung.
In the top of the sixth inning, Chae Eun-seong hit a solo home run to make the score 4-3 to give Moon a winning pitcher requirement. Chae did not stop there, but also hit consecutive home runs (one run) in the top of the eighth inning. Hanwha, which ran to 6-3 due to Jang Jin-hyuk’s home run in the top of the ninth inning, allowed Lee Jae-hyun to hit a solo shot, but won the game 6-4 by finishing the game without additional runs.
Moon Dong-ju, who won the Rookie of the Year award from Hanwha for the first time in 17 years since Ryu Hyun-jin (2006) with eight wins, eight losses and a 3.72 ERA in 23 games last year in his second year, is suffering from severe growth in his third year with a 6 wins, seven losses and a 6.01 ERA in 17 games this season.
Above all, his performance had ups and downs. After losing two games and posting an ERA of 9.97 in April, Moon showed signs of rebounding with two wins and an ERA of 2.45 in two games in May. However, he faltered again with four losses and an ERA of 6.91 in five games in June. 안전놀이터
The so-called “pong-pong-pong-pong” continued not only in monthly performances but also in games. After displaying his best pitching in seven scoreless innings against Samsung on June 2, he gave up 11 hits, the most in a game this season, losing four runs in five ⅔ against the NC Dinos on June 8. Moon Dong-ju, who also showed poor performance in the match against SSG Landers (eight runs in six innings) on the 14th, seemed to recover with a quality start (four runs and three earned runs in six innings) against the Kiwoom Heroes on the 20th, but collapsed by allowing seven runs in four innings against the Doosan Bears on the 26th.
The ups and downs continued in July. On July 12, Moon lost his fourth consecutive game against the LG Twins by allowing no runs in seven innings, and secured his fifth win of the season. However, the game against the Kia Tigers on Sunday lost again by allowing four runs in five innings.
Moon Dong-ju, who has shown a rollercoaster-like performance, seems to have found stability in the second game in August. After winning the game against KT Wiz by allowing two runs in five innings on the 1st, Samsung also succeeded in winning the game for two consecutive starts with two earned runs in five innings on the 8th. It was also encouraging that he recorded eight strikeouts, the most this season, by properly mixing fastballs and breaking balls.
Meanwhile, Moon Dong-ju once again showed off his strong “lion hunter” side against Samsung with good pitching on the 8th. Earlier, Moon Dong-ju was not giving up a single point against Samsung with one scoreless innings in one game in 2022, two wins in 2023 with an ERA of “0” (11 scoreless innings), and seven scoreless innings in one game this year. Although he recorded his first run (three runs) on the day, his overall performance against Samsung continued to strengthen with three wins and an ERA of 0.75 (2 earned runs in 24 innings) in five games.