Ryan Weiss (29), the foreign pitcher for the Hanwha Eagles, subdued the powerful Lotte Giants lineup once again. He ended Hanwha's two-game losing streak and led the team to reclaim second place.

Weiss started the home game against the Lotte Giants in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on the 23rd, pitching eight innings with four hits allowed (one home run), no walks, 11 strikeouts, and two earned runs, leading Hanwha to a 4-2 victory. With this win, Weiss secured his seventh victory of the season (two losses) and lowered his earned run average from 3.67 to 3.50.

Despite being a season of hitter-friendly conditions, Weiss demonstrated his dominance against the top-ranked team batting average of the Lotte Giants (.291). He achieved victory against Lotte on the 23rd of last month, with six innings pitched, eight hits allowed, no walks, 12 strikeouts, and two earned runs, showcasing his prowess once again.

In the first inning with one out, Weiss allowed consecutive hits to Yoon Dong-hee and Víctor Reyes, leading to a one-out, two-on situation, but he struck out Jeon Jun-woo and retired Na Seung-yeop with a fly out to center field, escaping the inning without conceding a run. However, in the second inning, after two outs, he allowed a solo home run to Yoo Kang-nam, giving up the first run.

However, after striking out the next hitter Lee Ho-jun to end the inning, Weiss found stability, pitching six consecutive perfect innings from the third to the eighth. He managed to retire 19 consecutive batters starting from the last batter of the second inning, effectively subduing the powerful Lotte lineup.

Having thrown 93 pitches by the eighth inning, Weiss took the mound again in the ninth after a conversation with manager Kim Kyung-moon. After the first batter, Jang Du-seong, hit a bloop single that fell in front of the left fielder, Weiss exited the game. Home fans were thrilled, achieving a season-high attendance of 17,000.

Weiss's total pitch count for the day was 98, with 78 of those being strikes. His strike rate reached an impressive 79.6%, highlighting his aggressive pitching style. He threw 37 fastballs with a peak speed of 155 km/h and an average of 152 km/h, utilizing more sweeper pitches (44) than curveballs (16) and changeups (1). Although categorized as sweeper pitches, Weiss noted he threw more sliders than usual.

In the ninth inning, with none out and a runner on first, closer Kim Seo-hyeon preserved the win but allowed Weiss's responsibility runner to score. After giving a ground ball single to Reyes, followed by a walk to Na Seung-yeop, the bases were loaded with two outs when Jeon Min-jae hit a single to right field, adding one more run to Weiss's earned runs. However, Kim Seo-hyeon struck out the next batter, Go Seung-min, with four consecutive sliders to end the game, securing his 15th save of the season.

Although Kim Seo-hyeon secured the win, it seemed he felt sorry for allowing Weiss's runners to score. After the game, he expressed his apologies repeatedly by tapping his chest while interviewing Weiss. In response, Weiss smiled and waved his hand, indicating that it was okay.

Weiss said, "In the end, we won 4-2. It’s important to focus on the team’s victory. Kim Seo-hyeon doesn’t need to feel sorry. I trusted Kim Seo-hyeon and he handled the situation well,” adding, “Lotte is a really good team. I’m very glad to have achieved an important victory against a strong team that was in second place until the game. I don’t think of them as unbeatable. There were early situations in the first and second innings, and I gave up a home run. They have a lot of good hitters,” expressing respect for the opposing team.

With this victory, Hanwha escaped from a recent two-game losing streak and reached the milestone of 30 wins (20 losses) for the season. They pushed Lotte (29 wins, 20 losses, 3 ties) down to third place, reclaiming sole possession of second place after two days. They aim to continue their winning streak with Ryu Hyun-jin as the starter for the game against Lotte on the 24th. Lotte will send foreign pitcher Tucker Davidson to the mound.

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