Hanwha Eagles take flight to lead KBO for first time in 10 years

Baseball

Published: 01 Apr. 2024, 13:51 Updated: 01 Apr. 2024, 15:54

Hanwha Eagles take flight to lead KBO for first time in 10 years

Lim Jong-chan of the Hanwha Eagles rounds the bases after hitting a walk-off home run at the bottom of the ninth inning during a game against the KT Wiz at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on Friday. [NEWS1]

The Hanwha Eagles are starting to soar.

Known for over a decade as the KBO’s perennial stragglers, the Eagles are finally back on top. The Daejeon club took first place on March 30, exactly 10 years since they last led the league on March 30, 2014.

The milestones keep coming. It’s the first time in 15 years — since April 14, 2009 — that the Eagles have been in first place past opening week, and their two consecutive sweeps last week — against the SSG Landers and KT Wiz — marked the first time they’ve achieved that feat since May, 2006.

Hanwha are currently riding a seven game winning streak with seven wins and one loss (Ryu Hyun-jin on Opening Day) on their line. The last time they managed seven wins in the first eight games of the season was 32 years ago in 1992, which was also the last time they won the league title and their penultimate season as the Binggrae Eagles.

The Eagles started the week on the road against the Landers, thumping the Incheon team 6-0, 3-1, 10-6, before heading to Daejeon for their first home stand of the season.

A sellout crowd — the first sellout series in Daejeon since 2018 — watched the Eagles beat the Wiz for three nights in a row — 3-2, 8-5, 14-3 — with Ryu looking more comfortable in the Friday game where he gave up two runs on eight hits over six innings of work while striking out nine with no walks.

Sunday’s game was won by rookie pitcher Hwang Jun-seo, who gave up one run on three hits in five innings of work while striking out five and walking two. He was the 10th rookie to make their league debut as a starter in KBO history and the first for the Eagles since Ryu in 2006.

Rookie pitcher Hwang Jun-seo starts for the Hanwha Eagles against the KT Wiz at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on Sunday. [YONHAP]

The Kia Tigers have settled into a comfortable second on the table, trailing by a game after sweeping the Lotte Giants in a shortened midweek series — 2-1, 8-2 — and then beating the Doosan Bears at Jamsil in southern Seoul two games to one: 4-2, 0-8, 9-3.

The third-place NC Dinos had a similar week, sweeping the Kiwoom Heroes in a shortened midweek series — 10-5, 6-2 — and coming back to beat the Giants after losing the opening game over the weekend: 1-3, 8-7, 8-7.

Despite getting swept by the Eagles, the Landers hold on to fourth place with a weekend sweep of their own, brushing aside the Samsung Lions on the road in Daegu: 6-4, 9-6, 4-3.

The reigning champion LG Twins sit in fifth after a slow start, beating the Lions midweek — 4-3, 2-2, 18-1 — but losing to the Heroes over the weekend: 3-0, 8-3, 8-4. The 18-1 win against the Lions was notable not just for the huge score line, but also because it saw Lions catcher Kang Min-ho play his 2,238th game, setting a new KBO record for most career appearances.

Samsung Lions' Kang Min-ho hits a single at the top of the second inning during a game against the LG Twins on Thursday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul. [YONHAP]

The final midweek game pitched the sixth-place Bears against the Wiz, the Seoul club edging out the win in a tight contest: 8-5, 11-8, 7-8.

The Wiz sit in last place on the table, unfamiliar territory for the Suwon, Gyeonggi club that has reached the playoffs for the last four straight seasons. With just one win on their line so far this season — against the Bears on Thursday — the Wiz trail the Eagles by six games.

The KBO will be back in action on Tuesday as the Eagles host the Giants in Daejeon for what could turn out to be a sold-out midweek series. The Tigers head to Suwon to play the Wiz, the Dinos take on the Twins in Seoul, the Bears travel to Incheon to play the Landers and the Heroes and Lions face off in Daegu.

Moving into the weekend, the Eagles face the Heroes at Gocheok in western Seoul, the Tigers host the Lions in Gwangju, the Dinos and Landers face off in Changwon, North Gyeongsang, the Twins host the Wiz in Seoul and the Bears visit the Giants in Busan.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]