Ryu Hyun-jin (37) of the Hanwha Eagles has won 10 games for the first time since returning to Korea from the Major League Baseball (MLB). It was especially meaningful because it was just before the 13th anniversary of the teacher who discovered him.스포츠토토
Ryu Hyun-jin took the mound as Hanwha’s starting pitcher in the away game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League regular season against the Lotte Giants at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 13th.
Ryu, who handled the first inning lightly, gave up the first run due to an error in the second inning. After receiving a double from leadoff hitter Victor Reyes that cut right-center gap, he induced the next batter Jeon Joon-woo to ground out to shortstop. However, shortstop Lee Do-yoon failed to catch the ball due to overlapping of the runner’s legs, and gave up a run first.
With Na Seung-yeop’s hit, Ryu continued his crisis with no outs and runners on the first and second bases. However, he threw an outside fastball to Jeong Hoon, inducing a double play that led to a first baseman, a shortstop, and a first baseman, and securing two outs at once. He then grounded out Park to the first baseman, closing the inning.
Since then, Ryu has faced several crises of losing runs. In the third inning, he allowed a runner to the scoring position with Yoon Dong-hee’s hit and Ko Seung-min’s walk after one out, but handled Son Ho-young with a double play. In the fourth inning, Na Seung-yup and Jung Hoon had consecutive hits after two outs, and in the fifth inning, he sent out Ko Seung-min with hits, but all of them ended the game without allowing a run.
Hanwha Ryu Hyun-jin is pitching against Sajik Lotte on the 13th.
Hanwha’s batters, who had failed to score a single run until the fifth inning, also burst after the middle of the game. With one out in the top of the sixth inning, Choi Jae-hoon and Hwang Young-mook had consecutive hits. Ha hit a ground ball to the shortstop, but as only the runner on the first base was out, Choi became the first and third base, and from here, Peraza’s heavy hit drove Choi home. Roh Si-hwan also hit a timely hit, leading the Hanwha Eagles to come from behind to 2-1.
In the seventh inning, Hwang Young-mook and An Chi-hong scored three runs on consecutive hits, and Jonathan Peraza’s two-run homerun made the score 7-1. Ryu gave strong support to Ryu.
Ryu left the mound to Park Sang-won at the bottom of the seventh inning and allowed six hits, one strikeout and one run during six innings. Throwing 99 pitches identical to his jersey number (99), Ryu displayed good condition by spraying a maximum speed of 148 kilometers per hour. The bullpen gave up three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but held on to its lead and won 8-4, allowing Ryu to post 10 wins (eight losses) this season.
It is the first time since 2011 that Ryu has recorded double-digit wins in a season in the KBO league. Starting with 18 wins in 2006, his debut season, he garnered 10 wins for six consecutive years until 2011. However, in 2012, right before he entered the U.S., he had only nine wins despite his 2.66 ERA, and again achieved double-digit wins in his first season after returning to Korea.
After the game, Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon said, “Ryu Hyun-jin did a great job as a starting pitcher for six innings,” adding, “I want to congratulate him on his 10th win.”
Hanwha Ryu Hyun-jin is lost in thought while pitching against Sajik Lotte on the 13th.
“I had no consciousness (about winning 10 games). My team came to Busan on a bad note, but I only thought about that and didn’t care about my victory at all,” Ryu said after achieving his 10th win. “I just want my team to win rather than my 10th win.”
Still, it was positive for Ryu to lose five consecutive games at a time when he is continuing his bid to advance to the fifth round. “The most important thing was to lose the game,” Ryu said. “I still have 10 games to go, and I could suddenly win 10 consecutive games. I hope my players don’t lose.”
Ryu showed his crisis management ability to control the ball several times and kept the ball in check. “I tried not to get hit hard, and I paid more attention to my ball control, and I got double play and strikeouts at good timing,” he said with a smile.
Ryu Hyun-jin, who said he was “relaxed” after scoring five runs in the seventh inning, said of Peraza, who hit his first home run in September, “I hope I can do this in the rest of the game.” He said, “He must have been stressed out, too,” and added, “I hope he makes himself feel comfortable.”
Meanwhile, Ryu Hyun-jin plans to attend the 13th anniversary event of the late Choi Dong-won at 12 p.m. on the 14th, the day after he took the mound, and lay a wreath there. Former coach Choi Dong-won, who died in 2011, is an “iron arm” pitcher who wrote the legend of four wins in the Korean Series in 1984. He served as a coach for the first team in 2006 when Ryu joined the professional league and discovered him.
“I think it will be meaningful because it’s been a while since I went to say hello,” Ryu said. “I’m going there for the first time since the event took place in the U.S., and I’ll come back with a good heart.” “Coach (Choi Dong-won) first let me start when I was a rookie. That’s why I’ve been able to do it until now,” Ryu said. Indeed, he has created a pitcher with 186 wins (KBO 108 wins + MLB 78 wins) in his career between the U.S. and South Korea.