The run of the Hanwha Eagles, ranked first in professional baseball, shows no signs of stopping. They overwhelmed even the KIA Tigers, who were riding a fierce momentum with their Hampyeong Futures players joining them.
Under the guidance of manager Kim Kyung-moon, Hanwha won their home game against the KIA Tigers in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on the 8th, with a score of 14-8.
Hitting 4 double plays consecutively in the 1st to 3rd innings, Hanwha recorded all starters with hits and runs while concentrating 14 runs with 16 hits, despite no home runs. They surpassed their previous highest score of 12 runs in a game this season.
Chae Eun-seong hit a decisive, game-winning, three-RBI double to break a 3-3 tie in the 3rd inning, and substitute foreign player Luis Rivera continued the onslaught with 2 hits and 1 RBI. Supported by a powerful batting lineup, Hanwha starter Moon Dong-ju also achieved his 7th win of the season, allowing 3 runs in 5 innings.
After confirming their first-half ranking on the 6th against Kiwoom, with this victory, Hanwha became the first team to reach 50 wins. With a record of 50 wins, 33 losses, and 2 ties, Hanwha solidified its first place position, leading the second-place LG, who won against Kiwoom at Jamsil, by 3.5 games.
Reaching 50 wins first was also the first time in 33 years since the 1992 Binggrae era, similar to confirming first place in the first half. Excluding the 1982–1988 first and second half leagues and the 1999–2000 dual leagues, in 34 instances of single leagues, the postseason probability for the team that reaches 50 wins first is 100% (35/35). The probability of winning the regular season is 71.4% (25/35), and the probability of winning the Korean Series is 60.0% (21/35).
After the game, Kim Kyung-moon, Hanwha's manager, first mentioned the winning pitcher Moon Dong-ju, saying, "Starter Moon Dong-ju did his job for 5 innings and came down." Moon Dong-ju achieved his 7th win of the season (3 losses) with 5 innings, 8 hits allowed, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, and 3 runs. Although it wasn't exceptionally good pitching, he managed to endure well through 5 innings in the hot weather, throwing a total of 96 pitches with a top speed of 156 km/h, averaging 150 km/h, mainly using fastballs (50 pitches), forks (20 pitches), sliders (16 pitches), and curves (10 pitches).
Furthermore, Kim Kyung-moon stated, "The batting lineup demonstrated active offensive power. We scored 3 runs immediately after losing the first run in the 1st inning and succeeded in turning the game around. After allowing a tie in the 3rd inning, we created a big inning with 6 runs in the offense. We scored 4 runs in the 5th inning and ultimately were able to seize the winning momentum," praising the players who exploded with a season-high 14 runs.
On the 9th, Hanwha will start sidearm pitcher Eom Sang-baek against KIA, aiming for a 5-game winning streak and securing a winning series. Eom Sang-baek has struggled this season with a record of 1 win and 6 losses over 14 games (60⅔ innings) and an earned run average of 6.23 and 55 strikeouts, but he has performed well against KIA with a record of 1 loss in 2 games (11 innings) and an earned run average of 3.27, with 12 strikeouts. KIA will have left-handed pitcher Yang Hyun-jong as the starter.
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