The Hanwha Eagles in professional baseball continued their charge for first place with the contributions of foreign players in both hitting and pitching.

Led by manager Kim Kyung-moon, Hanwha decorated their home game against the Kiwoom Heroes in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on the 22nd with a 10-4 victory.

Breaking a two-game losing streak suffered against Lotte on the 18th and 19th, Hanwha improved to 43 wins, 29 losses, and 1 tie (winning percentage .597). They secured first place with a 1-game lead over LG, who won their match against Doosan 13-5, with 42 wins, 30 losses, and 2 ties (winning percentage .583).

Starter Cody Ponce recorded his season's 10th win, throwing 5⅔ innings with 1 hit, 1 walk, and 12 strikeouts, allowing 2 earned runs (unearned). Ponce, who has not lost since the season started, achieved his 10-game winning streak first in the league this season. He became the first Hanwha pitcher in KBO history to achieve 10 consecutive wins since the beginning of the season.

Supported by a fiery offense, Ponce finished with a total of 96 pitches. He relied primarily on his fastball, clocking a maximum speed of 159 km/h and an average of 155 km/h, while also mixing in changeups (27), curves (14), sliders (9), and two-seam fastballs (1).

Though there were 2 earned runs in the 6th inning due to defensive errors, Ponce lowered his earned run average from 2.16 to 2.01. He reclaimed first place in that category, surpassing Drew Anderson of SSG (2.05), and increased his strikeout total to 141. Ponce widened the gap to 13 over Anderson (128), maintaining solo leads in wins, earned run average, and strikeouts.

Most importantly, with this victory, Ponce set a record for 10 consecutive wins since the start of the season. He joins a select group of players, including Hyun-dae Jung in 2003, Hector Noesi of KIA in 2017 (both with 14 wins), Seth Frankoff of Doosan in 2018 (13 consecutive wins), William Cuevas of KT in 2023 (12 consecutive wins), Myung-hwan Park of Doosan in 2005, and Adam Plutko of LG in 2023 (both with 10 consecutive wins), as the seventh such record in history.

After the game, manager Kim Kyung-moon said, "First, Ponce performed his role during 5⅔ innings and then came off the mound. I want to congratulate Ponce on his 10th win without a loss, which is the seventh in history," and added, "Since we had two days off, I was worried about our hitting form, but it seems that the two days of rest helped us in the end."

Recharging during the rainouts on the 20th and 21st, the Hanwha batters unleashed a season-high 18 hits. Luis Liberato, signed as a replacement foreign player for the injured Estevan Florial, made his debut batting second in center field, achieving a successful entrance with 3 hits in 5 at-bats and 1 RBI.

Against Kiwoom’s starter Raúl Alcántara, Liberato recorded his first hit with a right field single in the second inning and followed up with another hit to right center in the fourth, marking a multi-hit game within just three at-bats. He showcased his contact skills by effectively hitting a high fastball at 152 km/h on both occasions. In the fifth, he turned on a first-pitch fastball from southpaw Se-young Jung, sending a ball into the right field before executing an aggressive baserunning play for an RBI double.

Meanwhile, Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon quickly filled to capacity with a sellout crowd of 17,000 by 3:33 p.m. Manager Kim Kyung-moon also remarked, "I’m glad we were able to lead the game with our active offense and ultimately deliver a victory to the fans who came out to our home stadium today."

Hanwha will have a six-game road trip against Samsung in Daegu and SSG in Moonhak next week. Pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, who has been out since being replaced due to discomfort in his left adductor on the 5th against KT, is expected to return next week, boosting Hanwha's charge for first place.

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