It was a great pitch that came at the most necessary moment. Ryu Hyun-jin showed the ace’s dignity and led the Hanwha Eagles to victory.메이저사이트
Ryu Hyun-jin took the mound as Hanwha’s starting pitcher in an away game against the Doosan Bears in the 2024 KBO League regular season at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 25th.
On the previous day (24th), the Hanwha Eagles played a fierce battle with the Doosan Bears through the extended 10th inning. As a result, the team won the game 7-6, but consumed a lot of bullpen sessions. For the Hanwha Eagles, Ryu desperately needed to digest long innings.
And Ryu perfectly met Hanwha’s expectations. In the bottom of the first inning, third baseman Noh Si-hwan, who failed to completely catch a ground ball, allowed Jung to get on base, and Kim Jae-ho’s sacrifice bunt faced second base with one out, but Jared Young was tied up with a fly to second base. He then induced Yang to ground out to third to end the inning without allowing a run.
He didn’t have to be rough from the bottom of the second inning. He caught Kim Jae-hwan (midfielder fly) and Kang Seung-ho (catcher foul fly) in turn. Heo had a double to the left, but Kim Ki-yeon was grounded out to the third baseman. In the bottom of the third inning, he calmly increased the out count against Cho (ground ball to the shortstop), Jeong Su-bin (ground ball to the shortstop), and Kim Jae-ho (straight hit to the shortstop), completing his first three-out inning.
He allowed his first run in the bottom of the fourth inning. He successively grounded out Jarrod and Yang Seok-hwan to shortstop, but presented a 130-meter solo shot to Kim Jae-hwan that flew over the fence. Fortunately, he did not falter anymore while cooking Kang with strikeouts. In the bottom of the fifth inning, he gave Heo Kyung-min (first baseman foul fly), Kim Ki-yeon (second baseman ground ball), and Cho Soo-haeng (three strikeouts) in turn.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, his crisis management ability stood out. He was hit by an infield single to shortstop by Jung Soo-bin. Kim Jae-ho led the team by fouling a fly ball to the first base, but Jared threw a pitch and faced the first and second bases with one out. However, it did not collapse. Yang was induced to play 5-4-3 (third baseman – second baseman – first baseman) with a double play to end the inning.
Ryu’s pitching was highlighted in the bottom of the seventh inning. He struck out Kim Jae-hwan, but gave up an infield single to Kang Seung-ho. Heo Kyung-min then blocked it with a foul fly on the first base, but Kim Ki-yeon hit to the left, driving the team to the first and second bases with two outs. Doosan put up Yang Eui-ji as a pinch hitter.
It was a nerve-wracking situation, but Ryu remained calm. He ended his duties by striking out swinging after a game that lasted up to six pitches.
In the end, Ryu garnered five hits, one homer, four strikeouts, and one run in seven innings. With a total of 95 pitches thrown, his maximum fastball speed was measured up to 149 kilometers. With the Hanwha Eagles leading 2 to 1, Ryu gave the ball to his successor Park Sang-won, who also had the pleasure of securing eight wins (seven losses) for this season as the Eagles won 3-1. His earned run average (ERA) also decreased from 3.98 to 3.84.
Ryu Hyun-jin, who wrote 98 wins, 52 losses, one save and a 2.80 ERA in the KBO League from 2006 to 2012, entered the Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2013 to 2023 and wrote 78 wins, 48 losses, one save and a 3.27 ERA, is a left-hander ace who represents Korean baseball in name and reality. Since then, he has returned to Hanwha ahead of this season.
He had a hard time adapting to the KBO League at the beginning of the season and suffered a few poor performances in the middle, but Ryu Hyun-jin soon regained the prestige of the “Korean Monster” that everyone knew. He pitched well against the LG Twins in Daejeon on the 13th with two hits and two strikeouts and six strikeouts in five innings, and pitched well against the Incheon SSG Landers on the 18th with six hits and one strikeout and one run in 6.1 innings. And he also pitched well on the day and led Hanwha’s victory.
Thanks to Ryu Hyun-jin’s performance, the Hanwha Eagles swept all three consecutive weekend games against the Doosan Bears. With 56 wins, two draws and 60 losses, they continued their dream of becoming a fall baseball player, ranking sixth with SSG (58 wins, one draw and 62 losses) and seventh with no gap. They are just one game behind KT Wiz (59 wins, two draws and 61 losses), which is the last place for the postseason. In addition, it is the first time in 7020 days that the Hanwha Eagles swept all three consecutive games against the Doosan Bears since the Cheongju Series on June 4-6, 2005.