Professional baseball Hanwha Eagles continued to chase fifth place in summer blue uniforms, which became a symbol of victory.
Hanwha won the away game against the Doosan Bears in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League 7-4 at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 23rd.
Starting pitcher Ryan Weiss pitched well with three hits, one walk, six strikeouts, and one run in six innings, marking his third win (3 losses) of the season. The must-win group Han Seung-hyuk posted his 14th hold of the season with one walk and no runs in one ⅓ inning, and the closing pitcher Joo Hyun-sang blocked him from leaving the bottom of the ninth inning, making his 19th save of the season.
Jang Jin-hyuk, who is favored by manager Kim Kyung-moon, had the best day since his debut, hitting four hits and four RBIs in four times at bat, including his ninth three-run homer of this season. It was the first time since his debut that he had four hits and four RBIs simultaneously. Hwang Young-mook, the first batter, also had three hits and one walk from four times at bat, making four runs on the first base, and scoring three runs.
Hanwha, which has continued its stormy momentum by recording 16 wins and 7 losses in 23 recent matches, reaffirmed its good spirits by posting 12 wins and 3 losses in 15 matches (winning rate .800) in its blue summer uniform. Hanwha, which came in seventh with 54 wins, 60 losses and 2 draws (winning rate .474) for this season, maintained a two-game gap with KT, which came in fifth with 58 wins, 60 losses and 2 draws.
Doosan ranked fourth with 62 wins, 58 losses and two draws (winning rate of .517). Hanwha also led the team with seven wins and six losses.
Jang Jin-hyuk’s three-run home run, Hanwha that destroyed Shirakawa from the first inning
Hanwha gained the upper hand by scoring four runs off Doosan starter Keisho Shirakawa from the start of the first inning. Hwang Young-mook’s hit to the center field, and Roh Si-hwan’s walk gave a bases-loaded opportunity with one out. Jang Jin-hyuk’s three-run homerun hit the first run after Chae Eun-seong’s sacrifice fly to the right field.
Jang hit a fork ball that was high in Shirakawa’s fifth pitch to hit the homer over the right fence. With a flying distance of 110 meters, he hit his ninth homer of this season. He has hit four homeruns in the past five games as his first homerun at Jamsil Stadium. Shirakawa relaxed by throwing 40 pitches from the top of the first inning.
In the top of the fourth inning, Hanwha scored a run away. With two outs, Hwang got on base with a heavy hit after a game of eight pitches, and advanced to the second base when Shirakawa threw a wild pitch. Hwang was out for the first time, but reversed the decision after a video recording. When Jonathan Peraza had a heavy hit, Hwang quickly penetrated the home ground and widened the score to 5-1.
Shirakawa collapsed by allowing six hits (one homer) and three walks, two strikeouts and five runs during four innings, securing his fifth loss (four wins) in this season. His ERA also rose from 5.23 to 5.65.
Hanwha added one more run in the top of the fifth inning. Noh Si-hwan opened the game against Doosan relief pitcher Lee Young-ha with a double to the left, and Jang Jin-hyuk hit a timely hit to center field with Kim In-hwan’s grounder to the second base, leading to a 6-1 run.
Jang had four hits and four RBIs in four times at bat. It was the first time for him to have four hits and four RBIs simultaneously, posting the most hits in an individual game and tying an RBI. Hwang Young-mook and Perazaar also had three hits and one walk from four times at bat, and two hits and one RBI and one walk from three times at bat, respectively. Noh Si-hwan also had two hits and two walks from two times at bat to play on the fourth base.
Weiss’ ‘Three wins of the season’ even received defense help
On the mound, Hanwha starter Weiss pitched well. He silenced Doosan’s batters by allowing three hits, one walk, six strikeouts and one run during six innings. Weiss, who has garnered three wins (three losses) this season through quality starts in the last three consecutive games, has also lowered his ERA from 3.88 to 3.63.
He started the game after receiving a bunt hit on the first base from Jung Soo-bin in the bottom of the first inning, but induced Lee Yoo-chan to play a double play on the second base. As soon as second baseman Hwang Young-mook caught a powerful hit, he threw it to shortstop Lee Do-yoon to create a double play. Then, first baseman Chae Eun-seong also managed to catch a tricky grounder by Jared Young, and took the base himself. The first inning was over with seven balls.
Weiss, who gave up his first run in the bottom of the second inning with a superior double by Yang Seok-hwan and a left-handed double by Kim Jae-hwan, remained unshakable. He grounded out Kim Ki-yeon to the first base, threw out Jeon Min-jae to the first base, and struck out Kim Jae-ho to the wrong swing, without any additional runs. Kim Jae-ho’s bat followed the outer slider.
In the bottom of the third inning, he allowed three outs and struck out the last batter, Lee Yoo-chan, with three sliders. In the bottom of the fourth inning, he allowed a walk, but he struck out Yang with a high fastball. Shortstop Lee Do-yoon grabbed Kim Ki-yeon’s hit ball with a backhand and threw a bound to the first base accurately, helping Weiss.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jeon Min-jae, Kim Jae-ho, and Jo had three consecutive strikeouts. All of them were fastballs, and Doosan hitters were slow to make the decision. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lee Won-seok, a left fielder, jumped and caught a good hit, drawing cheers from Weiss.
Weiss pitched a total of 87. He pitched 63 strikes, which accounted for 72.4 percent of the total, through aggressive pitching. He pitched up to 153 kilometers per hour and 151 kilometers per hour on average, as well as 29 sliders, 16 curves, and two splitters. Though categorized as sliders, the sweeper that bends greatly to the outside of the right-handed batter gained popularity.
Doosan’s chase in the bottom of the seventh inning, Hanwha’s must-win group defended the victory
Doosan also did not back down easily. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Yang Seok-hwan got on base with a pitch ball off Hanwha relief pitcher Kim Seo-hyun. Kim Jae-hwan and Kim Ki-yeon were struck out in succession, but Hanwha’s Lee Do-yoon made a catch error when Jeon Min-jae grounded out to the shortstop, resulting in a chance for the first and second bases with two outs. Doosan then created a bases-loaded opportunity with Seo Ye-il’s walk, and pressed the Hanwha Eagles with Cho Soo-bin’s timely hit, before replacing Kim with a pushy walk.
With the bases loaded with two outs, Hanwha put in the must-win group Han Seung-hyuk. Han Seung-hyuk gave a walk to pinch hitter Yang Eui-ji, and another run was lost. The team was chased 6-4, leading to a bases-loaded crisis, but Han Seung-hyuk put out the fire quickly by dealing with the next batter Jared’s infield fly ball to the second base.
Then, Hanwha scored an additional run right at the top of the eighth inning to widen the gap. It allowed a valuable run off Doosan relief pitcher Kim Kang-ryul. After Hwang Young-mook, the leadoff batter, drew a walk, and when the ball headed by Eurozone fell over the height of the third baseman into the left field, he immediately made it to the home ground to score a run. Euro Gyeol, who was deployed as a logistical guard in the bottom of the sixth inning, contributed to his victory with an RBI double at his first at bat in the top of the eighth inning.
Although Kim Seo-hyun was shaken by one hit, two walks, two strikeouts and three runs (no earned run) in the ⅔ innings, Han Seung-hyuk, who was put in the bottom of the seventh inning and blocked him from leaving the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, won his 14th hold of the season with no hit, one walk and no run in the first ⅓ inning. Joo Hyun-sang, who finished the bottom of the ninth inning with three outs including one strikeout, made his 19th save of the season. 먹튀검증