The professional baseball Hanwha Eagles are now challenging for a 10-game winning streak. Hanwha, which has surged to single first place with an explosive momentum, sweeping 20 wins out of the last 23 games, also aims to resurrect the history of its 10-game winning streak from 1999, when it won the Korean Series.
Hanwha extended its winning streak to '9' by defeating the Daejeon Samsung team 10-6 on the 7th, after achieving 8 consecutive wins from the Daejeon Kiwoom game on the 13th of last month to the Sajik Lotte game on the 23rd. Although it failed to achieve a 9-game winning streak previously, this second challenge was successful. Hanwha's 9-game winning streak was the first in 20 years since it started on June 4, 2005, against Doosan in Cheongju, lasting until June 14 against KIA in Gwangju (Mudeng).
Now, the next record of 10 consecutive wins dates back to 1999. From September 24, 1999, against Incheon Hyundai, to October 5, against Daejeon Samsung, Hanwha achieved a 10-game winning streak. During that time, they swept the Hyundai games from the 24th to the 26th with the start of the Chuseok holiday, then won against Gwangju (Mudeng) Haitai on the 27th, Daejeon LG on the 29th, Daejeon SSANGBANGWOOL on the 30th, Daewon Haitai on the 1st, and the Daejeon Samsung game on the 6th, winning all 10 games in a row.
Before the Chuseok holiday, Hanwha, second in the Magic League, lagged 5 games behind third-place Hyundai in the Dream League. Although it appeared that a best-of-three playoff was likely, Hanwha quickly erased the 5-game difference with a 10-game winning streak, including a sweep against Hyundai. With a 2.5-game lead over Hyundai, Hanwha eliminated the playoff and swept Doosan in four straight games in the playoffs, defeating Lotte 4-1 in the Korean Series to lift the championship trophy for the first time in its history.
After 26 years, an opportunity for a 10-game winning streak has arrived. On the 9th, they seek to achieve their 10th consecutive win against Kiwoom at Gocheok Dome. It is clear that Hanwha, leading first place (24 wins, 13 losses, winning percentage .649) has a significant power advantage over 10th-place Kiwoom (13 wins, 27 losses, winning percentage .325), which is lagging 12.5 games behind. Kiwoom also struggled in their last 10 games with a record of 3 wins and 7 losses.
However, baseball is a sport where even the last-place team can win at least 3 times when facing the first place ten times. Although Hanwha won two out of three games in Daejeon from the 11th to the 13th of last month, they were struck by a defeat in the game on the 12th, failing to counter the rookie pitcher Jung Hyun-woo of Kiwoom. Furthermore, on the 7th, Kiwoom had a huge 8-run inning in the 8th against KIA at Gocheok, pulling off a remarkable comeback victory of 11-10.
Above all, Hanwha has the painful memory of rapidly declining after starting first with Kiwoom at Gocheok last year. Last year, they became first place with a record of 8 wins and 2 losses over the first 10 games, but on April 5 in the Gocheok Kiwoom game, starter Ryu Hyun-jin collapsed, allowing a personal record of 9 runs (4⅓ innings), resulting in a 7-11 comeback defeat. Since that day, Hanwha suffered 5 consecutive losses, compounded by injury troubles, plummeting to 3 wins and 15 losses in 18 games, quickly erasing the winning margin they had built up early in the season.
Of course, now they have played significantly more games than last year, and their strength has certainly improved, so their upward momentum is not easily broken. Nevertheless, as they continue to succeed, they need to be more cautious, treating even a bridge as something to approach carefully. Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon said, "As long as we are doing well now, we will maintain that momentum and ensure that the players remain injury-free. The season is still long, so I will not focus on our current ranking and will approach each game one by one."
For Hanwha, starting the first game of the three-game series against Kiwoom on the 9th is crucial. Free agent newcomer sidearm pitcher Eom Sang-baek will be making the start. Although he has fallen short of expectations with a record of 1 win and 3 losses and an earned run average of 5.06 over 6 games (26⅔ innings), he has found stability by pitching more than 5 innings in each of his last three games. For Kiwoom, right-hander Ha Young-min will take the mound. He has a record of 4 wins and 4 losses and an earned run average of 5.57 over 8 games (42 innings) with 40 strikeouts this season.
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