Professional baseball Hanwha Eagles pitcher Moon Dong-joo recorded victory in his first appearance of the season. He continued his team’s four-game winning streak and handed over Barton to ace Ryu Hyun-jin.
Moon took the mound as the starting pitcher in an away game against the SSG Landers at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Sunday. With his fastball of up to 158 kilometers and a big curveball, he became the winning pitcher by allowing six hits, two walks, five strikeouts and two runs during five innings. The Hanwha Eagles won 10-6 after a batting match.룸알바
Moon threw 80 pitches on the day, with 50 fastballs, 15 curves, 15 sliders, and five changeups. His fastballs ranged from 158 to 144 kilometers. In the beginning of the game, his fastballs did not exceed 150 kilometers, but he continued to speed around 150 kilometers in the middle of the game.
Before the game, Hanwha manager Choi Won-ho said of Moon Dong-joo, “We are planning to throw 85 pitches today. If he throws 85 pitches instead of the fifth inning, he will be agonizing.” Moon threw 57 pitches through the fourth inning, and finished with 80 pitches by getting a two-run timely hit with two outs and runners on the second and third bases in the fifth inning.
In the first inning, Park Jihoon Choi, the leadoff hitter, allowed a hit to the center field. He struck out Park Sung-han with a 121 kilometer curve ball. He allowed a steal to the second base at bat. With one out and a runner on the second base, Choi Jeong grounded to the third base and Han Yu-seom grounded to the second base to complete the inning without losing a point.
He overcame the crisis well in the second inning. He threw a 149km fastball to the first batter, Ha Jae-hoon, and was beaten with a double that hit the right-center gap. Then, he walked Go. With no outs and runners on the first and second bases.
When Kim set a bunt position, Moon threw a 148-km high fastball. Kim’s bunt hit was strong, and a slight fly ball flew towards the third baseman. Third baseman Noh Si-hwan caught it one-bound, threw it to the second base, and handled it with a double play until the first base. With two outs and third base, Moon struck out with a 158-km fastball against Jeon, and roared.
In the top of the third inning, Noh hit a two-run homer, leading the game 2-0. In the bottom of the third inning, Moon took the lead, Lee Ji-young, to the third base, and Jihoon Choi to the second base to secure two outs. He got a left-handed hit by Park Sung-han, but Choi Jeong was handled by a fly ball to the right field, and Ha Jae-hoon struck out with a fastball of 139 kilometers. In the fourth inning, Han Yu-seom swung and missed with a fastball of 153 kilometers, and Ha Jae-hoon struck out with a slider of 139 kilometers. He threw his first pitch slider to Ko Myung-jun and got a hit to the left, but Kim Seong-hyeon finished the inning with a fly ball to the third base with his first pitch of 148 kilometers.
The Hanwha Eagles scored five runs in the fifth inning to make a 7-0 run. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Moon took out Jeon Eui-san with a fly ball to the left field and got a hit to the right field by Lee Ji-young that passed to the first base. He got on base with a walk on Jihoon Choi. Park Sung-han’s grounder to the first base made it to the second and third bases with two outs. He allowed Choi Jeong to have a hit to the center field. As both runners homered, the score became 7-2. With two outs and a runner on the first base, he struck out Han Yu-seom with a 153km high fastball to secure his position as the winning pitcher.
“It was okay. It wasn’t bad for my first game, and I think it was good,” Moon said in his first game of the season after the game. “I prepared well, and I had a lot of concerns and concerns about myself before the season, but I think you can remove the worries now,” he said with a smile.
The maximum speed of his fastballs was 148 to 152 km in the first and second innings. Then, while facing Jeon with two outs and a third base in the second inning, he threw five consecutive fastballs including 153 km, 155 km, 158 km, 156 km and 157 km, striking out a strikeout.
“I wanted to show you that I am throwing well as I am because I came out on fast speed, which is my symbol, and I thought that I should throw well rather than overdo it because the weather is very cold. In fact, it was very bad in literature. I tried to throw without putting much effort in the beginning,” Moon said.
“I threw it with my strength in the beginning, but I thought it might collapse on my own, so I threw it with more care in the beginning. That’s why I think I pitched well (quickly) in a situation where I was highly concentrated,” he added.
Regarding the main weapon curve, Moon said, “I wasn’t satisfied with the curve today. Still, I was able to keep throwing because it was a low command overall, but I couldn’t control it as I wanted, so I thought I could use ABS well when throwing it low, but it was accurate.”
The previous day, he and Ryu Hyun-jin were seen talking to each other while watching the tablet PC (ABS Zone) at the dugout. “We talked about ABS. I saw how literature was set in the ABS zone, and Hyunjin kept saying good things, which helped me a lot,” Moon said.
After losing the opening game, the Hanwha Eagles has won four consecutive games, and its starting pitchers have won the entire four games. It was Peña, Kim Min-woo, Sanchez, and Moon Dong-ju in order. Only starting pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin lost the opening game. “I’m your portrait house right now. Who are you going to look after?” Ryu said ahead of the opening game at home to KT on Monday.
“I wanted to continue the flow. The starting pitchers threw so well that I prepared well.