The momentum of the Hanwha Eagles in professional baseball shows no signs of slowing down. With a solid performance of 7 innings and 2 earned runs by 'monster pitcher' Ryu Hyun-jin (38), Hanwha achieved a dramatic comeback victory, closing in on first-place LG Twins by 1.5 games.

On the 30th, Ryu Hyun-jin made his start in a home game against the LG Twins at Hanwha Life Pok, pitching 7 innings with 6 hits allowed (1 home run), 1 walk, and 6 strikeouts, allowing 2 earned runs. In the bottom of the 7th, a two-run homer by pinch hitter Hwang Young-mook capped the comeback, leading Hanwha to a 5-2 victory and securing Ryu Hyun-jin's 3rd win of the season. Including a 4-game winning streak that started from the match against KT on the 26th, Hanwha has surged to 15 wins and 3 losses in their last 18 games, narrowing the gap to 1.5 games behind first-place LG (20 wins, 11 losses) that is in a 4-game losing streak. They have officially entered the race for the top spot.

Winning this game is significant. On his first start of the season on the 25th of last month, Ryu Hyun-jin overwhelmed LG with 6 innings, allowing just 3 hits without any walks and striking out 5 batters without allowing any earned runs. He effectively contained the LG lineup again this day. With a total pitch count of 98, he utilized a fastball reaching a top speed of 146km/h, an average of 143km/h, along with a cutter (24 pitches), changeup (20 pitches), curveball (13 pitches), and two-seamer (1 pitch).

Ryu Hyun-jin started off the game by allowing a single to LG's leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki. He then induced a ground ball to third base off Song Chan-eui with an outside changeup after 3 pitches. It was a 5-4-3 double play. He struck out Austin Dean for the third out, finishing the first inning with just 7 pitches.

In the second inning, he caught a line drive from leadoff hitter Moon Bo-kyung, thanks to a quick dash by center fielder Esteban Florial, allowing him to aid defensively. He then struck out Kim Hyun-soo using an outside high cutter for his 1400th career strikeout, marking the 11th record in KBO League history. He also induced a ground ball from Oh Ji-hwan, finishing the inning in order.

In the fourth inning, he caught Hong Chang-ki looking with an outside high fastball for strikeout. Although catcher Choi Jae-hun was positioned inside, the pitch going the opposite way startled Hong Chang-ki. Then, a faulty hit from Song Chan-eui resulted in a double that landed beyond the second baseman, putting him in a scoring position, but he remained unfazed. After retiring Austin with a fly out to center, he struck out Moon Bo-kyung swinging with a slow curve, making it another quick inning.

In the fifth inning, he forced Kim Hyun-soo to hit a ground ball to second base with an outside cutter, and struck out Oh Ji-hwan looking with an outside slider for a quick second out. However, he then was hit hard by Park Dong-won, who smacked Ryu Hyun-jin's second pitch, a 145km/h outside fastball, over the right field wall near the monster wall. The distance was 120m, marking his 7th home run of the season. This was Ryu Hyun-jin's 5th home run allowed this season.

After retiring the next hitter, Park Hae-min with a fly out to center, Ryu Hyun-jin managed to get through the sixth inning with his first out coming from Gu Bon-hyuk's ground ball to shortstop, which was cleanly thrown to first base by Shim Woo-jun. He followed by inducing a ground ball from Hong Chang-ki for a third out and struck out Song Chan-eui swinging with a changeup, finishing the inning without allowing any runs.

The 7th inning was the last crucial moment. After being threatened by consecutive hits from Austin and Moon Bo-kyung, Ryu Hyun-jin found himself in a jam with no outs and runners on first and third. A single by Kim Hyun-soo resulted in a run, giving LG a 2-1 lead. Following a sacrifice bunt by Oh Ji-hwan, with one out and runners on second and third, Ryu Hyun-jin intentionally walked Park Dong-won to load the bases, then caught Park Hae-min with a groundout to the pitcher and Moon Seong-joo with a groundout to shortstop, getting out of the jam without allowing any more runs.

Ryu Hyun-jin held on through the seventh, giving Hanwha a chance. In the bottom of the seventh, after Lee Jin-young's single up the middle and a sacrifice bunt by YIDO that put runners on first and second with one out, pinch hitter Hwang Young-mook belted a two-run homer off LG's setup man Kim Jin-sung, sending the ball over the right side of the 8m monster wall. It was a distance of 110m and marked Hwang Young-mook's first home run of the season, serving as the decisive hit for the comeback. This home run changed Ryu Hyun-jin's status from a potential loser to a winning pitcher.

In the eighth inning, Hanwha added 2 more runs with a solo shot from Moon Hyun-bin and a decisive timely hit from pinch hitter Heo In-seo, and setup man Han Seung-hyuk and closer Kim Seo-hyun pitched in order in the eighth and ninth inning to complete the comeback victory.

After the game, Ryu Hyun-jin said, “I'm glad the team won. Last time (on the 24th against Lotte) our win streak ended during my game, so I'm relieved we could continue it this time.” He added, “Overall, I managed my pitch count well today, which allowed me to pitch long innings. There was one home run, and although I felt regretful about the seventh inning, I'm glad there were no additional runs allowed. When I got to a three-ball count against Moon Seong-joo, I was just thinking that even if I gave up a home run, I needed to throw it down the middle.”

With the dramatic two-run homer by Hwang Young-mook in the bottom of the seventh, Ryu Hyun-jin's situation changed from a potential loss to a winning pitcher. Ryu said, “It felt great to go from being at risk of a loss to being in line for a win. As I said earlier, not allowing additional runs in the seventh seems to have been the turning point that led to the home run.”

Hanwha has now closed in on first-place LG by 1.5 games and entered the top race. However, Ryu Hyun-jin did not get carried away. He noted, “It’s still too early to talk about the top spot race. It's early to discuss postseason or the top four, but if we continue like this without any long losing streaks, there will be good results later on.”

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