Hanwha Eagles snapped a seven-game losing streak
The Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization snapped a seven-game losing streak. Jonathan Peraza, batting leadoff for the first time this season, broke his silence with a game-winning hit off Oh Seung-hwan.
Hanwha came from behind to win 6-5 at home against the Samsung Lions of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on Wednesday.
Trailing 4-5 with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning, Samsung brought in closer Oh Seung-hwan. But Peraza hit a two-out, game-tying single into the right-field corner to seal the win.
Hanwha, which snapped a seven-game losing streak, moved from a tie for ninth place with Kiwoom to sole possession of ninth place with 39 wins, 53 losses and two draws (.424 winning percentage). Third-place Samsung, which had its two-game winning streak snapped, is 50-44-2 (.532 winning percentage).
Samsung struck first.
In the top of the first, Kim Ji-chan led off with an infield single off Hanwha starter Jaime Barria that deflected off the pitcher’s glove and went to second on a wild pitch. Ryu Ji-hyuk singled to left field and Ruben Cardenas struck out, but Kang Min-ho followed with a huge double to center field. Kim Ji-chan came home to give Samsung the lead.
In the top of the third, Samsung added another run with a home run. Two batters later, Kang Min-ho singled up the middle and then Kim Young-woong blasted a two-run homer. Barria’s second pitch, a 149-kilometer-per-hour two-seam chopper that was low to the body, went over the right-field wall. It traveled 130 meters and was his 19th home run of the season.
But Hanwha didn’t go down easily. After being held scoreless on one hit off Samsung starter Denny Reyes through three innings, they scored their first run in the bottom of the fourth when Noh Si-hwan lined a single to right field with runners on first and second after Kim In-hwan singled and Kim Tae-yeon walked.
With runners on first and second, Hanwha laid down a bunt that was misplayed by Samsung third baseman Kim Young-woong. Kim Young-woong took his first step as if he was going to catch the ball, 파워볼게임 but the pitcher Reyes stopped and it was a lucky infield hit. With runners on first and third, Lee Jae-won’s sacrifice fly to center field brought Hanwha within one run.
Hanwha finally tied the game with a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
With the bases loaded, Jang Jin-hyuk took Reyes’ three-pitch fastball up and over the right-field wall. It traveled 110 meters and was his fourth home run of the season.
With the momentum on their side, Hanwha tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. Kim Tae-yeon singled to left and Roh Si-hwan singled to right to put runners on first and third. Chae Eun-sung hit a grounder to third, but Kim Tae-yeon was caught in a rundown at third base to put runners on first and second. It looked like it might be over, but Ahn Chi-hong hit an RBI double to the right side of the infield to give Hanwha a 4-3 lead. On a full count, Reyes’ sixth low fastball was pushed away.
But with runners on first and third, Lee Jae-won grounded out to shortstop and Hwang Young-mook struck out swinging to end the inning, and Samsung regained the lead in the top of the eighth. After leadoff hitter Ruben Cardenas walked against Hanwha reliever Han Seung-hyuk, Kang Min-ho hit a grounder to third base.
Hanwha third baseman Noh Si-hwan, who was unable to get the ball out of bounds over the third base line, dropped the ball and Samsung had runners on second and third with no outs. Noh’s throwing error was recorded. A grounder to first base by Kim Young-woong put runners on second and third, and Hanwha abruptly switched catchers from Lee Jae-won to Choi Jae-hoon due to a catcher’s mound visit violation. After Lee Sung-kyu grounded out to second base to load the bases and tie the game at 4-4, Samsung regained the lead at 5-4 when Yoon Jung-bin connected on a Han Seung-hyuk fastball to center field.
However, in the bottom of the eighth, Han Hwa attacked the Samsung bullpen.
After Chae Eun-sung drew a seven-pitch walk against Kim Jae-yoon, Ahn Chi-hong singled to right to load the bases. Choi Jae-hoon grounded out to second on a bunt, Hwang Young-mook reached first on a throwing error by Samsung catcher Lee Byung-heon to load the bases.
After Jang Jin-hyeok retired the side on an infield fly to second base, Samsung pulled Kim Jae-yoon and brought in Oh Seung-hwan. Peraza, who had gone hitless in four at-bats, stepped up to the plate. He took Oh’s second pitch, a low slider on the body, and lined it past the first baseman and into the right-field seats. It was a two-run double that brought home runners from second and third. It made it a 6-5 game.
Hanwha’s closer Joo Hyun-sang preserved the one-run lead in the top of the ninth to earn his 12th save of the season. He walked leadoff hitter Lee Jae-hyun and struck out pinch-hitter Ahn Joo-hyung on a wild pitch to end the inning.
Samsung starter Reyes was charged with four runs on nine hits (one homer) and two walks in 6⅔ innings, striking out five and walking one, but was happy to take the loss. Oh Seung-hwan hit the winning run, but a combination of fielding errors led to two runs (unearned) in ⅔ innings to suffer his seventh loss of the season.