The Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Professional Baseball League charged to their sixth consecutive victory, aided by rain. With a recent record of 9 wins and 1 loss in the last 10 games, they soared from 10th to 2nd place in just ten days.

Under the direction of manager Kim Kyung-moon, Hanwha won the home game against the NC Dinos in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Korea Baseball Organization League at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on the 19th, with a score of 7-2, in a rain-shortened game.

The game was officially suspended at 6:52 p.m. after the top of the 5th inning ended and later declared a rain-shortened game at 8:13 p.m. The teams waited for 81 minutes, but the rain did not stop.

Despite the inclement weather, starting pitcher Moon Dong-ju threw fastballs at speeds up to 159 km/h, recording a complete game victory with 5 innings, 5 hits allowed, 1 walk, 1 hit batter, 7 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs. The rain helped him achieve his first complete game in his debut and continued the team’s streak of 6 consecutive victories by starting pitchers.

To establish an official game, the home team needed to complete the top of the 5th inning, but a torrential downpour hit while Moon Dong-ju was facing the last batter of the inning, Kim Joo-won. After braving the heavy raindrops to retire Kim Joo-won with a fly ball to left field, the conditions for a rain-shortened game were met.

The Hanwha lineup also supported Moon Dong-ju with 7 runs. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Estevan Florial hit a solo home run to narrow the gap, and in the bottom of the 4th inning, a crucial three-run homer by Noh Si-hwan contributed to a big inning of 6 runs, overwhelming NC’s starting pitcher Riley Thompson.

Including the 6 consecutive victories, Hanwha has achieved a record of 9 wins and 1 loss in the last 10 games, marking their standing at 13 wins and 11 losses (win percentage .542). It is the first time Hanwha has ranked second since April 6 of last year (8 wins and 4 losses), which is 378 days ago. For games involving more than 20, this marks the first time '2nd place Hanwha' has been seen since September 6, 2018, totaling 2417 days. At that time, Hanwha had played 117 games (65 wins and 52 losses), finishing third in the regular season and reaching the postseason.

It was a pleasing day for Hanwha in many ways. They achieved their sixth consecutive victory and jumped to second place, and thanks to the torrential downpour that coincided perfectly with the end of the top of the 5th inning, they completed the game without using any bullpen. This means they can utilize all bullpen pitchers for the game on the 20th, making the rain even more welcome.

However, manager Kim Kyung-moon of Hanwha was not at ease. After the victory, he usually delivers 'winning remarks' through the club, but this time Kim Kyung-moon skipped this.

There was a reason. NC's leadoff hitter Kwon Hee-dong was substituted after being hit on the left lat by a 148 km/h fastball from Hanwha's starting pitcher Moon Dong-ju during his first at-bat in the top of the 1st inning. With key hitters like Park Gun-woo and Matt Davidson already sidelined due to injuries, NC had already been plagued, and losing Kwon Hee-dong right at the beginning of the game was an unfortunate blow.

Kwon Hee-dong, who moved directly to the hospital, fortunately escaped a serious injury. After an X-ray and CT scan, he was found to have only a simple bruise, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

Still, manager Kim Kyung-moon was not at ease. After the rain delay at the end of the 5th inning, he went to NC's side with coach Yang Seung-kwan to personally express his apologies to manager Lee Ho-jun. Kim and Lee had worked together as manager and player at NC from 2013 to 2017. Kwon Hee-dong, who was hit by the pitch, was also a player whom Kim discovered during his rookie years and developed into a regular. Thus, his concern was natural.

Manager Kim is well-known for valuing etiquette and respect toward opponents. While competition is important, as a fellow baseball person, he exercised 'cooperative spirit' and showed consideration for his opponent by skipping the winning remarks.

Not only manager Kim but also winning pitcher Moon Dong-ju apologized. After the game, Moon Dong-ju said, 'I really want to say sorry to senior Kwon Hee-dong. I will visit him before tomorrow's game to pay my respects.'

Meanwhile, Hanwha announced right-handed pitcher Kodi Ponce as the starting pitcher for the game against NC on the 20th. For NC, right-handed pitcher Lee Yong-chan is slated to start.

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