‘Rebellion of the last-place candidate’ Kiwoom, Pajuk’s 7th consecutive win Hanwha’s storm is calming down

In the ‘2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League’ game between Hanwha Eagles and LG Twins held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the 24th, Hanwha’s starting pitcher Pena is giving a high five to catcher Lee Jae-won ahead of being replaced in the bottom of the 7th inning with 2 outs and 1 base on base.

Hanwha Eagles and Kiwoom Heroes, who finished 9th and 10th last year, showed a stark contrast at the beginning of this season.

While Hanwha advanced to the lead with strong starting baseball, Kiwoom, which was considered the weakest team, slipped to the bottom with four consecutive losses in the opening season.

However, in the first week of April, the two teams’ movements diverged again. Kiwoom, which was the last of the 10 teams to get its first win, swept Hanwha and Gocheok in three consecutive games, reaching Pajuk’s seventh consecutive win. On the other hand, Hanwha, whose two strokes were creaky, fell into a quagmire of three consecutive losses and the storm calmed down.

◇ Kiwoom continues to win even without Lee Jeong-hoo and Ahn

Woo-jin Kiwoom, which went from being a local team to a team that knows no defeat, is shaking up the KBO League landscape.

Kiwoom’s pitching was stable with a team batting average of 0.306 and an ERA of 3.74 during the 7-game winning streak. The absence of leading hitter Lee Jeong-hoo (advance to the major leagues) and ace Ahn Woo-jin (fulfillment of military service), who left before this season, is not being highlighted.

The starting lineup, which was pointed out as a weakness, is reliable compared to any team. With Hurado, Heisus, Ha Young-min, and Kim Seon-gi taking charge of long innings, mound management also gained some breathing room. The batting line was also hot, scoring more than 7 runs in 6 of the 7 consecutive wins. There were only 3 home runs during the 4-game losing streak, but 11 home runs have been hit since then. Lee Joo-hyung, who recovered from injury, is swinging a bat with a batting average of 0.524, and Kim Hye-seong, Song Seong-moon, Kim Hwi-jip, and Ronnie Dawson are also playing the role of problem solvers at every opportunity. The morale of the players is also sky high. In particular, the team became stronger after winning 11-7 against Hanwha on the 5th by hitting 7 consecutive hits against ‘Monster’ Ryu Hyun-jin. In the games on the 6th and 7th, they won by 1 point in a row. Kiwoom, which rose from last place to third place, is now looking to move on to the lead. They are only 0.5 games behind the 2nd place KIA Tigers and 1 game away from the 1st place NC Dinos. Kiwoom will face SSG Landers, who are on a three-game losing streak, in Incheon from the 9th to 11th, and return to Gocheok Dome on the 12th to 14th to clash with the Lotte Giants, who are in the bottom tier. ◇Hanwha, shaken by the mound, lost 3 times in a row Hanwha faced Lotte and Kiwoom one after the other last week and faltered with 1 win and 4 losses. It was expected that they would solidify their lead by accumulating wins, but when they opened the lid, they got the worst results. Hanwha, which suffered three consecutive losses to Kiwoom, slipped to tied for fourth place. The collapse of the mound was largely responsible for the sudden inability of the Eagles to gain strength. In the game against Lotte on the 2nd, the team lost 0-1 due to the silence of the batting line, which left 12 bases on base, but the pitchers showed trouble in the next 4 games. During this period, the team’s ERA reached a whopping 6.17, and they hit 6 home runs. Although they were successful with strong starting baseball, that strength disappeared. Ryu Hyun-jin was hit hard in the game on the 5th and collapsed, allowing 9 runs, and Peña also gave up 6 runs (4 earned) in 3 innings in the game on the 6th. Moon Dong-ju, who won the Rookie of the Year award last year, also lacks stability with a hitting percentage of 0.364 and an on-base percentage allowed per inning of 2.10. Hanwha, which was in its first crisis after the opening, will try to rebound through a three-game series against the Doosan Bears and Jamsil held on the 9th to 11th. Doosan has made 8 errors in the last 7 games and is showing a clear downward trend with 1 win and 6 losses, so Hanwha is determined to break the losing streak. Ryu Hyun-jin, who returned to the domestic stage after 12 years and struggled with 2 losses and an ERA of 8.36, will also attempt to make his comeback and record 99 wins in the KBO League by sacrificing Doosan on the 11th. 토토사이트