The Hanwha Eagles are riding high. They’ve won eight straight games for the first time in 18 years.
Hanwha rode the back-to-back home runs of Noh Si-hwan to a 10-4 victory over the Samsung Lions of the 2023 Shinhan Bank Solar KBO League at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Monday.
It was the eighth straight win for Hanwha, which had been building up to the victory against the KIA Tigers in Daejeon on March 21.
It’s the first time in 18 years that Hanwha, once the “last place team in the world,” has won eight straight games.
In 2005, Hanwha won eight straight games from June 4 against the Doosan Bears in Cheongju to June 12 against the LG Twins in Daejeon, and then won nine straight games on June 14 against unranked KIA.
It had been 18 years since the last seven-game winning streak, and now Hanwha will try to make it nine.
With their 31st win (W4 D37 L), Hanwha remained in eighth place and furthered their push for a mid-table finish.
Outfielder Roh Si-hwan swung the bat like a champ. He blasted back-to-back home runs in the fourth and fifth innings, finishing 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored.
Choi Jae-hoon added to the Hanwha bats with a 3-for-4 performance with two RBIs.
With plenty of offensive support, Hanwha starter Ricardo Sanchez pitched six innings of five-hit ball, striking out five and walking one to earn his fifth win of the season.
Samsung lost for the fourth straight game, despite sending out foreign ace David Buchanan. They remained in last place with 27 wins and 45 losses.
Buchanan, who was shaken up badly by two home runs from Noh Si-hwan, gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits (two homers) with two walks and three strikeouts in five innings to take his sixth loss of the season (five wins).
Samsung struck first. In the bottom of the first inning, Jose Pirela walked and stole second, and Kang Min-ho followed with a single up the middle.
Down 2-0, Hanwha quickly turned the game around with two home runs from Noh Si-hwan.
In the top of the fourth inning, Noh Si-hwan led off with a solo home run to left field (his 16th of the season) to tie the game.
After Moon Hyun-bin singled and Jung Eun-won walked to put runners on first and second, Choi Jae-hoon lined a single to right to put Hanwha back in front.
In the top of the fifth, a throwing error by the shortstop and a walk to Kim In-hwan put runners on first and second with no outs. Noh crushed a two-seam curveball from Buchanan over the right field fence for his 17th home run of the season. It was Noh’s fourth career back-to-back home run.
Hanwha increased its lead to 6-1 in the top of the sixth inning when Lee Do-yoon singled and stole second, and Lee Jin-young followed with a single to left field.
In the seventh, Jeong Eun-won doubled to right-center and Choi Jae-hoon singled to right to bring in a run.
Hanwha added three more runs in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach.
In the top of the eighth, Lee Jin-young and Kim In-hwan singled to put runners on first and second, and Chae Eun-sung followed with a single up the middle to give Hanwha an 8-1 lead.
Moon Hyun-bin followed with a single to center field, but Samsung pitcher Kim Dae-woo, who was covering first base on Jung Eun-won’s grounder to short, did not receive the throw from first baseman Oh Jae-il properly, allowing the two runners to cross the plate.
Samsung scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth on three doubles and an RBI single by Ahn Ju-hyung, but the game was already out of reach.
At Jamsil Stadium, KIA snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the LG Twins.
With the end of the three-game losing streak, KIA now has 30 wins, one draw, and 37 losses. They remain in ninth place. Leaders LG, meanwhile, ended their five-game winning streak to move to 46 wins, two draws, and 27 losses.
It was LG who took the lead first 안전놀이터.
In the bottom of the third inning, leadoff hitter Park Hae-min hit a triple to right-center field, and Shin Min-jae followed with a single to left. Shin advanced to third on a stolen base and Hong Chang-ki’s fly to right field, then scored on Moon Sung-joo’s grounder to second.
However, KIA scored five runs in the fourth inning to take the lead.
In the top of the fourth, Choi Hyung-woo was hit by a pitch and Socrates Brito singled up the middle to put runners on first and second, and Hwang Dae-in singled up the middle.
Ryu Ji-hyuk singled to left to load the bases, and pinch-hitter Ko Jong-wook followed with a double down the right field line to bring home two.
With runners on second and third, Park Chan-ho singled to center field to score Ryu Ji-hyuk from third. Choi Won-jun followed with an RBI single to right, giving KIA a 5-1 lead.
LG got one run back in the bottom of the fifth on a single and stolen base by Moon Sung-joo and a single to left-center by Kim Hyun-soo, but that was it.
Kia held on for the two-run victory as its bullpen held strong. Starting with Lee Jun-young (⅔ innings), who entered with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, Jeon Sang-hyun (1⅔ innings) and Choi Ji-min (1⅓ innings) pitched consecutive scoreless innings.
Entering the game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning with a 5-2 lead, Choi preserved the win and earned her third save of the season (2-2).
Kim Ki-hoon, who came on in relief of starter Kim Gun-guk and pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, earned the win. It was his second win of the season.
At the plate for KIA, Hwang Dae-in was hot at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a home run and an RBI.
LG starter Adam Plutko took the loss after giving up five runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in four innings. It was the first loss of the season for Plutko, who had won 10 of his previous 15 starts without a loss.
At the Gocheok Sky Dome, the Kiwoom Heroes defeated the SSG Landers 6-3.
Avenging their loss the day before, Kiwoom improved to 35 wins, two draws and 38 losses, keeping them in fifth place. Second-place SSG, with 44 wins, one draw and 28 losses, failed to close the gap on leaders LG, who also lost on the day.
Kiwoom’s signature hitter Lee Jung-hoo showed off his batting prowess. He went 4-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored.
Table-setters Lee Hyung-jong and Kim Hye-sung did their part, going 5-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored, respectively, and 4-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored.
Kiwoom starter Ian McKinney pitched six innings of three-hit ball, striking out five and walking two to secure the win.
McKinney, who wore the Kiwoom jersey as a substitute, suffered a loss against Doosan on March 25 in his KBO debut, but picked up his first win in his second appearance.
SSG’s foreign pitcher, Roenis Elias, suffered his third loss of the season (3-3) after giving up three runs on 11 hits in six innings.
Kiwoom opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Lee Hyung-jong doubled and Kim Hye-sung singled to left field with the bases loaded after an error.
Kiwoom added two more runs in the sixth inning after McKinney pitched a strong inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Lee Jung-hoo doubled to right and Lee Won-seok singled to right-center to put runners on first and third, and Song Sung-moon singled up the middle. Kim Soo-hwan followed with a single to left field to put runners on first and second.
In the bottom of the seventh, Kiwoom put runners on first and second after back-to-back singles by Lee Hyung-jong and Kim Hye-sung, and Lee Jung-hoo made it 3-0 with a single to right.
Song Sung-moon followed with a double and Kim Dong-heon drove in a run with a pushing single.
Kiwoom extended its lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Lee Jung-hoo with runners on second and third.
SSG scored three runs in the top of the ninth on Choi Ji-hoon’s single to left, Han Yoo-seom’s sacrifice fly and Choo Shin-soo’s RBI double, but could not get any closer.
At KT Wiz Park in Suwon, the KT Wiz defeated the NC Dinos 7-6 thanks to Park Byung-ho’s game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth.
With the score tied at 6-6 in the bottom of the ninth, Ahn Chi-young singled to right and Anthony Alford followed with an infield single to put runners on first and second.
Byung-ho Park then came up to bat and hit a game-tying single to left field off NC reliever Lee Yong-chan.
It was Park’s seventh career game-winning hit, and the first of his career.
Earlier in the day, KT kept NC close with a single run in each inning.
After surrendering two runs to NC in the first inning, KT responded with a home run in the third. In the bottom of the third, with runners on first and second, Alford blasted a three-run shot to the left-center field wall (his seventh of the season).
KT gave up three runs in the top of the fourth to lose the lead, then added another in the fifth, but tied the game again in the sixth with a home run. In the bottom of the sixth, with runners on first and third, Moon Sang-chul hit a three-run shot (his sixth of the season) over the center field fence to tie the game at 6-6.
Keeping the momentum going, KT got the game-winning hit.
Alford finished 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Kim Sang-soo (4-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 run) and Ahn Chi-young (5-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 runs) batted first and second.
KT closer Kim Jae-yoon, who came on in the top of the ninth and pitched one hitless inning, picked up his third win (2-2, 12 saves).
With the sweep of NC for the second straight day, seventh-ranked KT improved to 32 wins, two ties and 37 losses. Third-place NC, with 36 wins, one draw and 33 losses, still hasn’t closed the gap on fourth-place Lotte.
The Doosan Bears won 2-1 against the Lotte Giants at Munsu Stadium in Ulsan.
Doosan, who had suffered a 0-1 shutout loss to Lotte the day before, avenged the one-goal defeat and snapped a two-game losing streak. Their season record now stands at 34 wins, 1 draw, and 36 losses.
Lotte, which had its three-game winning streak ended, has 36 points from 34 games. They remain in fourth place.
Doosan’s pitching staff was outstanding.
Doosan right-hander Young-gun Kwak-bin held the Lotte offense scoreless over six innings, allowing two hits and four walks. He struck out two.
Kwak improved to 7-2 on the season with the win.
Doosan struck first in the top of the first inning. Two batters later, Yang Suk-hwan singled through the left side and Yang Ji-won followed with a timely double off the right field fence.
After that, Doosan protected its precious one-run lead with the help of Kwak Bin and Kim Myung-shin.
Kwak Bin, who gave up only a walk and a hit-by-pitch in the first four innings, put runners in scoring position for the first time in the bottom of the fifth after giving up a single to leadoff hitter Jeon Jun-woo and a walk to Han Dong-hee. He then walked Park Seung-wook to put runners on first and second.
However, no runs were scored. He got Yoo Kang-nam to fly out to left field and Kim Min-seok to strike out.
Kwak Bin gave up two walks and a hit to load the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but he got Jack Rex to fly out to center, Jeon Jun-woo to fly out to second, and Han Dong-hee to ground out to third to end the threat.
After taking over the mound in the bottom of the seventh, Kim Myung-shin pitched two scoreless innings of one-hit ball to preserve the lead, and Doosan added another run in the ninth. With the bases loaded in the top of the ninth, Kang Seung-ho hit a solo home run (his fourth of the season) over the left field fence.
Doosan brought in Hong Gun-hee in the bottom of the ninth, but he gave up consecutive singles to Han Dong-hee, Park Seung-wook, and Yoo Kang-nam one out later.
Doosan then switched to Chung Chul-won on the mound. He struck out Kim Min-seok and Ko Seung-min in succession to preserve the win. Chung earned his first save of the season (4-2).
LOTTE starter Charlie Barnes pitched seven strong innings, striking out a whopping 11 batters and allowing one run on five hits, but was unable to get any offense going and took the loss. It was his fifth loss of the season (4 wins). 안전놀이터추천