The Hanwha Eagles have won again. They are riding a wave of six consecutive victories, with a record of 9 wins and 1 loss in their last 10 games. A stroke of luck followed as the rain that poured right after the top of the 5th inning led to the declaration of a rain-shortened game.
Hanwha won their home game against the NC Dinos in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on the 19th by a score of 7-2 in a rain-shortened game called in the top of the 5th inning. The game was interrupted by heavy rain at 6:52 p.m. right after the top of the 5th inning ended, and with the rain not stopping, a rain-shortened game was declared.
Starting pitcher Moon Dong-joo, who threw a fastball reaching 159 km/h, recorded 2 earned runs over 5 innings for his second win of the season, also marking his first complete game in a rain-shortened match. This is the first complete game for Hanwha since Kim Min-woo (1 earned run over 9 innings) against NC in Daejeon on Sept. 4, 2022, 958 days ago. The rain-shortened complete game is the first since Jang Min-jae (1 earned run over 6 innings) against Lotte on April 7, 2019, 2,204 days ago.
Hanwha's streak of consecutive wins by starting pitchers has been extended to 6 games. The streak began on the 13th against Kiwoom in Daejeon with Moon Dong-joo and continued through Cody Ponce, Ryan Weiss, Ryu Hyun-jin, Eom Sang-baek, and back to Moon Dong-joo. The last time that Hanwha achieved consecutive wins by starting pitchers for 6 games was from April 20, 2007, against KIA in Gwangju to May 6, 2007, involving Ryu Hyun-jin, Moon Dong-hwan, Cedric Bowers, Jeong Min-cheol, Yang Hoon, and Moon Dong-hwan; it has been 18 years.
At the plate, Esteban Florial excelled with 2 hits, including his second home run of the season, going 3 for 2 with 2 RBIs. No Si-hwan also enjoyed a home run as he hit his seventh of the season in the bottom of the 4th, contributing to another explosive inning with 6 runs.
In front of a season-high crowd of 17,000 at the stadium, Hanwha extended their winning streak to 6, marking a season record of 13 wins and 11 losses. They surged to the upper ranks with an outstanding record of 9 wins and 1 loss in their last 10 games. The NC Dinos, who suffered their third consecutive loss, have a record of 7 wins and 11 losses.
The first score came from NC. In the top of the 3rd, after two outs, Choi Jeong-won drew a walk, followed by Kim Joo-won hitting a sizable triple towards right-center field, resulting in the first run. With Park Min-woo's single that drove in a run, NC took a 2-0 lead, but Hanwha quickly responded in the bottom of the 3rd. Florial hit a solo home run to close the gap. He connected on a slider from NC starter Riley Thompson, which came in high at 140 km/h on the sixth pitch, sending it over the right monster wall by 8 meters for a distance of 120 meters, his second home run of the season.
In the bottom of the 4th, Hanwha completely broke down Riley with a big inning of 6 runs. Lead-off hitter Lee Jin-young opened the scoring with a ground ball single to third base, and Lee Do-yun connected with a fake bunt slash to hit a single to right field, creating a first and third base opportunity with no outs. After tying the game with a sacrifice fly from Choi Jae-hun, Kim Tae-yeon gave Hanwha the lead with a double that sailed over the left fielder's head, making it 3-2.
Continuing with two outs and runners on second and third, Florial hit a single to right field that drove in a run against NC's new pitcher Choi Seong-young. Following that, in the two outs situation with runners on first and third, No Si-hwan exploded with a three-run home run. He connected on a slider from Choi Seong-young on the fourth pitch, sending it over the left-field fence for a three-run shot with a distance of 110 meters, marking his seventh home run of the season. This was his second straight game with a home run after the NC game on the 18th.
Hanwha met the formal game criteria after finishing the top of the 5th inning. Moon Dong-joo faced two hits in the top of the 5th, putting him in a one-out, first and third crisis, but he ended the inning by getting Choi Jeong-won and Kim Joo-won to pop out to center and left field, respectively. While heavy rain was about to stop the game during Kim Joo-won's at-bat, he induced a pop-up on the sixth pitch, which allowed the game to meet the formal criteria.
After the game was interrupted at 6:52 p.m., the rain did not stop, leading to the eventual declaration of a rain-shortened game.
Moon Dong-joo recorded his debut complete game with 5 innings pitched, allowing 5 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit batter, and striking out 7 with 2 earned runs. He threw a total of 79 pitches, maxing out at 159 km/h, with an average of 153 km/h, focusing on his fastball (35 pitches), along with sliders, forkballs (15 pitches each), curves (10 pitches), and two-seam fastballs (4 pitches). After earning his second win of the season (1 loss), Moon Dong-joo slightly lowered his earned run average from 3.71 to 3.68.
NC starter Riley pitched 3⅔ innings, allowing 5 hits (1 home run), 2 walks, striking out 5 with 4 earned runs, suffering his second loss of the season (2 wins). NC's leadoff hitter Kwon Hee-dong faced misfortune, getting hit by a fastball on the first pitch of the game from Moon Dong-joo and was substituted out. Kwon Hee-dong was transported to the hospital for X-rays and CT scans, and fortunately received a diagnosis of a simple bruise, allowing for some relief.
[OSEN]