The winning streak of the Hanwha Eagles in professional baseball ended at '12'. On the day the KBO League set a record for the first-ever consecutive sellouts of 15 home and away games, the 12-game winning streak came to an end. After a dramatic two-run home run by Choi In-ho followed an opponent's foul fly ball catching error with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Doosan Bears managed to win.
Doosan won 4-3 against Hanwha in a road game of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League, held at Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon on the 13th after a tight 11-inning battle. Second-year infielder Lim Jong-seong saved the team from a major disaster by securing the decisive hit for his first career RBI in the 11th inning.
Hanwha, who was caught by Doosan, saw their 13-game winning streak come to an end. They finished their long winning streak with 12 consecutive victories from the game against KT on the 26th of last month until the game against Kiwoom on the 11th. After 33 years since their former name Binggrae, they almost exceeded the team's record of 14 consecutive wins set that year, but it was postponed. After losing for the first time in 18 days since the KT game on the 25th of last month, Hanwha's record became 27 wins and 14 losses.
Doosan, which halted the winning streak of Hanwha, snapped its two-game losing streak, marking a season record of 17 wins, 22 losses, and 2 ties.
In a tight pitching duel between Hanwha's Ryu Hyun-jin and Doosan's Choi Won-joon, the score remained '0' through the third inning before Hanwha scored first in the bottom of the fourth. After one out, Noh Si-hwan hit a solid double that struck the right field monster wall, opening the scoring. Then, Chae Eun-sung's timely hit to left field allowed Noh Si-hwan to dash home and put the first point on the board.
Doosan, however, counterattacked in the top of the fifth inning. After one out, Kang Seung-ho hit a single off Ryu Hyun-jin and advanced to second base due to a wild pitch by Hanwha's catcher Choi Jae-hoon during Kim In-tae's at-bat. Following that, Hanwha's second baseman Hwang Young-mook's throw to first base on a slow ground ball hit by Kim In-tae went awry. An infield single and an error were recorded simultaneously, and during that time, Kang Seung-ho scored from third base, tying the game at 1-1. This was the first error that led to a run while Ryu Hyun-jin was on the mound this season.
Ryu Hyun-jin faced the next batter Lim Jong-seong and found himself in a tight spot with runners on first and second after a 10-pitch battle, but did not collapse. He induced Jeong Soo-bin into a groundout to shortstop and struck out Jake Cave swinging, preventing any additional runs. Ryu Hyun-jin, who went six innings, pitched a quality start with six hits allowed, no walks, five strikeouts, and one earned run (unearned). He left the game without a decision, supported by a total of 99 pitches, reaching a top speed of 150 km/h, and averaging 145 km/h with his fastball (34 pitches), alongside cutters (24 pitches), change-ups (21 pitches), curves (15 pitches), and two-seamers (5 pitches).
Doosan's starting pitcher Choi Won-joon also faced a jam in the bottom of the sixth, allowing Hwang Young-mook a single to left field, Esteban Florial an infield single, and Moon Hyun-bin a bunt single in front of the catcher, placing the bases loaded with no outs, but he managed to escape without conceding any runs. He got Noh Si-hwan to hit a grounder back to the pitcher, leading to a 1-2-3 double play. With two outs and runners on second and third, he intentionally walked Chae Eun-sung to load the bases before striking out Lee Jin-young swinging to end the inning.
Choi Won-joon, who faced a setback for his first win of the season in his ninth appearance, achieved his fourth quality start with six innings pitched, eight hits allowed, one walk, three strikeouts, and one earned run. He threw a total of 84 pitches, reaching a top speed of 146 km/h, averaging 143 km/h with his fastball (35 pitches) along with forkballs (24 pitches), sliders (15 pitches), curves (9 pitches), and cutters (1 pitch).
Starting in the seventh inning, the battle of the bullpens commenced, and Doosan broke through Hanwha's solid bullpen in the top of the eighth with two outs. After Yang Eui-ji, feeling tightness in his waist during a baserunning play, was replaced by Kim Ki-yeon, Kim Ki-yeon opened the inning with a single to center field. Following that, Kim Jae-hwan hit a two-run home run over the left field wall on the third pitch thrown by Han Seung-hyuk, which was a fastball clocked at 148 km/h. The home run traveled 115 meters, marking his fifth home run of the season. For Han Seung-hyuk, it was the first home run he allowed this season, breaking his streak of 16 games over 14⅔ innings without giving up a run since the Doosan game on the 8th of last month.
Doosan handed over the save opportunity to closer Kim Tae-kyun after Cho Ji-gang and Ko Hyo-jun quickly closed out the eighth inning without allowing any hits. Kim Tae-kyun secured two outs by inducing Noh Si-hwan into a pop-up to right field and Chae Eun-sung into a groundout to third base, but after walking Lee Jin-young, he prompted Choi In-ho to hit a foul fly ball to third base on the fourth pitch. It seemed like the game was going to end with the catcher Kim Ki-yeon making the catch, but it wasn't. Third baseman Lim Jong-seong mishandled it, and nobody caught the ball. It was a foul fly ball catching error. An unbelievable mistake occurred when the game was supposed to end, and Doosan had to pay the price.
Choi In-ho continued the tough battle with three foul cuts, then connected with Kim Tae-kyun's 9th pitch, a fastball clocked at 151 km/h that was low inside, and launched it over the right field monster wall. The home run traveled 120 meters, marking his first home run of the season. The ball had a speed of 164.6 km/h and an exit angle of 31.1 degrees, tying the game at 3-3 with a two-run shot. It was Kim Tae-kyun's third blown save of the season.
Hanwha brought in their closer Kim Seo-hyun at the top of the 10th to put the game on the line. After Kim Seo-hyun struck out Yang Seok-hwan swinging with two outs and runners on first and second, the opportunity for a walk-off victory arrived in the bottom of the 10th. Against Doosan's Lee Young-ha, Hanwha's Esteban Florial hit a single to right-center field after two outs and successfully stole second base to place himself in scoring position, but Moon Hyun-bin struck out, wasting the chance for a walk-off.
Doosan scored the winning point in the top of the 11th. After one out, Kang Seung-ho walked against Hanwha's reliever Kim Jong-su and successfully stole second base. Jo Soo-hyung struck out swinging, but Lim Jong-seong hit a slider from Kim Jong-su on the first pitch, sending a line drive double to left field that broke the tie with an RBI. The final score was 4-3, making Lim Jong-seong's debut first RBI the decisive hit.
In the bottom of the 11th, Hanwha's lead-off hitter Noh Si-hwan hit a single to right field, but courtesy runner Lee Sang-hyuk failed to steal second base, disrupting the momentum of the comeback attempt. Doosan's Park Chi-guk held onto the one-run lead and secured a save. This was his first save of the season and his 10th career save. Lee Young-ha, who closed the 10th, earned his second win of the season (2-2), while Kim Jong-su took his first loss of the season.
Meanwhile, all 17,000 seats at Hanwha Life Ballpark were filled as of 4:53 p.m. on that day. It was the 17th home game sellout of the season. Including road games, they set a new single-season team record with 15 consecutive sellouts, starting from the game against Lotte on the 24th of last month. The previous record was 14 games, which was achieved once each last year by KIA (from Sept. 7 against Kiwoom in Gwangju to Sept. 30 against NC in Gwangju) and this year by LG (from Apr. 25 against KIA in Gwangju to May 11 against Samsung in Daegu).
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