The Hanwha Eagles are one step closer to the competition for the fifth round of fall baseball as they succeeded in winning the sweep against the Doosan Bears in 7020 days. The decisive approval was that “Korean Monster” Ryu Hyun-jin gave up one run and made a quality start plus good pitching in seven innings.
Ryu Hyun-jin started against Doosan in Jamsil on August 25 and contributed to his team’s 3-1 victory by allowing five hits (one home run), four strikeouts, and one walk in seven innings.
Ryu Hyun-jin, who also won an important victory against Munhak SSG Landers on the 18th, with 6.1 innings of one-run pitching, took the starting mound for the first time in 7,020 days since the three consecutive games of Doosan in Cheongju on June 4-6, 2005.
Ryu sent out leadoff hitter Jung Soo-bin at the bottom of the first inning due to an error at third base. Ryu, who gave up a sacrifice bunt, then caught Jarrod and Yang Seok-hwan with back-to-back miscues to prevent the first run.
In the top of the second inning, Hanwha gave Ryu a run-scoring support thanks to Lee Do-yoon’s timely hit to the left. In the bottom of the second inning, Ryu faced Heo Kyung-min’s double on the left-field line after two outs, but he grounded out Kim Ki-yeon to third to end the inning.
Ryu Hyun-jin, who made his first three-out inning in the bottom of the third inning, allowed his first run of the day as his fourth pitch 106km/h curve thrown to Kim Jae-hwan led to a 130-meter-long, right-center solo home run.
While Ryu Hyun-jin led the inning with three outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Hanwha succeeded in turning the tables 2-1 again with Jang Jin-hyuk’s timely double to the right-center in the top of the sixth inning.
Ryu gave up an infield single to leadoff hitter Jeong Su-bin in the bottom of the sixth inning. After allowing Jared to throw pitches, Ryu allowed his follow-up hitter Yang Suk-hwan to hit a double play to the third base, which gave him a sigh of relief. 메이저놀이터
Ryu faced his final crisis in the bottom of the seventh inning. Ryu gave up hits to Kang Seung-ho and Kim Ki-yeon in the bottom of the seventh inning, putting him in danger of hitting with runners on the first and second bases with two outs. With pinch hitter Yang Eui-ji at bat, Ryu induced a swinging strikeout with a 138km/h cutter on the sixth pitch.
Ryu, who had a quality start plus good pitching, passed the ball to Park Sang-won before the defense started in the bottom of the eighth inning to wrap up the game. Hanwha scored an additional run thanks to Choi Jae-hoon’s sacrifice fly ball in the top of the ninth inning. Park Sang-won, who started the game from the bottom of the eighth inning, ended the game by making multi-inning saves with two scoreless innings.
After the game, Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon said, “I didn’t expect to win three consecutive games, but the outcome was unexpectedly good. Ryu’s superb defense of seven innings contributed to our victory. All of our players worked hard for the past week.”
Ryu Hyun-jin also met with reporters after the game and said, “The victory is more meaningful because it was achieved amid competition for ranking. I am glad that I continued to win consecutive games without Chae Eun-sung and An Chi-hong. When Yang Eui-ji played at the batter’s box, I just threw it after looking at the catcher’s signature, but the ball cutter worked well as a result. Kim Jae-hwan also nodded, saying, “I put my last effort into avenging Kim Jae-hwan’s at-bat because I had a home run earlier.”
With the victory, Hanwha has secured seven consecutive away wins and narrowed its game gap with fifth-ranked KT Wiz to just one game. Now, the round of five teams seems to be in sight.
“I feel like I’m showing what my team has not done so far,” Ryu said. “It’s good to see young players and veteran players constantly concentrate on every game, every inning. I don’t have anything special to say to younger players. Let’s just do it with the mindset that we will win no matter what. Since there is not much time left, everyone knows the importance of every game. Everyone will do well on their own.”
Hanwha will leave Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park and start the new season at its new stadium in 2025. If it makes the top five this season, it will be the last autumn baseball league to be held at Hanwha Life Eagles Park.
“Rather than calling it the last Eagles Park autumn baseball game, the players wanted to play before the season, and I think they are all cheering up,” Ryu said. “I will continue to focus on my role as a starting pitcher. I have been in good condition so far, so I will try to fill up the number of pitches as much as possible. The next game (against KT) is also important, so I will prepare well.”