The monster of fear that made giants tremble takes the mound again at Sajik.
The first-place Hanwha Eagles will face the third-place Lotte Giants at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 17th for their eighth matchup of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League season. This is the first game of a three-game series during the week.
Hanwha reclaimed the top spot after 33 days since the game against the Daejeon Doosan Bears on May 13, winning the previous day's match against the Daejeon LG Twins and achieving a four-game winning streak while surpassing LG. They are leading the table by half a game over second-place LG (41 wins, 1 draw, 27 losses).
In contrast, Lotte faced a disappointing 0-1 defeat against the Incheon SSG Landers on the 15th, ending their three-game winning streak, and is now in third place (37 wins, 3 draws, 30 losses), just one game ahead of fourth-place KT Wiz. The season head-to-head record between the two teams shows Hanwha with 3 wins and 4 losses, with a gap of 3.5 games.
To secure a fifth consecutive win, Hanwha is set to start foreign pitcher Ryan Weiss. Weiss's season record stands at 14 games, 8 wins, 2 losses, and an earned run average of 3.09, ranking him joint second in wins (10 quality starts), fourth in innings pitched (87⅓ innings), strikeouts (100 strikeouts), and WHIP (1.02). After achieving a perfect game with 10 strikeouts in 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, and no earned runs against the Daejeon Doosan Bears on the 10th, Weiss will take the mound again after six days of rest.
Against Lotte this year, he has shown dominance with 2 wins in 2 games and an earned run average of 2.57. On April 23, at Sajik, he pitched 6 innings, allowing 8 hits, with no walks, 12 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs. On May 23, in Daejeon, he pitched 8 innings, allowing 4 hits (1 home run), also with no walks, 11 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs, securing victories in both games. Weiss has recorded the highest number of strikeouts against Lotte this year, with 23 strikeouts, accounting for about 25% of his season total (100 strikeouts).
In response, Lotte is starting foreign pitcher Tucker Davidson. Davidson's season record stands at 14 games, 6 wins, 2 losses, with an earned run average of 3.55. In his last appearance on the 11th against the Suwon KT Wiz, he pitched 5⅓ innings, allowing 7 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts, and 3 earned runs, but did not get a decision. Since the 4-game stretch ended with the match against the Samsung Lions on May 18, he has not had a win.
Against Hanwha this year, he made one appearance on May 24 in Daejeon, pitching 5 innings, allowing 8 hits (2 home runs), 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, and 6 earned runs, failing to secure a win.
Meanwhile, on the 17th, matchups are set for Jamsil with Riley Thompson (NC Dinos) vs. Eliezer Hernandez (LG Twins), Daegu with Cole Irvin (Doosan Bears) vs. Won Tae-in (Samsung Lions), Gwangju with Emmanuel De Jesus (KT Wiz) vs. Kim Do-hyun (KIA Tigers), and Gocheok with Mitch White (SSG Landers) vs. Kim Yoon-ha (Kiwoom Heroes).
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