The Hanwha Eagles lost to the NC Dinos of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League 2-5 in an away game held at Changwon NC Park on Sunday. The Hanwha Eagles (62 wins, two draws and 72 losses) who are ranking eighth in the recent 10 games are not able to reach the winning rate of 50 percent even if they win all eight games. Unless the teams in the top five do not slip at the same time, the chance to advance to the autumn baseball league by themselves has all but disappeared.
Hanwha's batters lost strength on the day by scoring four hits, two walks and two runs. Moon Hyun-bin hit a timely hit in the top of the first inning with one out and runners on the first base, but he threw a damper on the mood with his baserunning for the second base while NC was competing at home.
Hanwha allowed Matt Davidson to throw a come-from-behind two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning, but Chae Eun-seong hit his 20th solo shot of the season in the top of the second inning to balance it 2-2. However, the score ended there. An Chi-hong walked to the base with one out, but Ha Joo-seok hit an outside fastball with the ball count 2-2, and was out after hitting a double play by the shortstop.
From the third to the fifth innings, Hanwha's batters were blocked by NC's starting pitcher Lim Sang-hyun (six innings, three hits, one homer, two walks, three strikeouts, two runs) and three strikeouts, and was out for three consecutive innings. Lee Sang-gyu, who had been on the mound since the second inning following starter Cho Dong-wook, was shaken up in the bottom of the fifth inning. He gave up consecutive hits to Shin Jae-hwan and Seo Ho-cheol, and was on the verge of being runners on the second and third bases with no outs due to right fielder Lee Jin-young's throwing errors.
Lee Sang-gyu eventually gave up a two-run double to Kim Joo-won and handed over the mound to Kim Ki-joong. Kim Ki-joong, who took the mound at the risk of scoring with no outs and runners on the second base, handled Park Min-woo with a fly ball to center field to complete his mission. Lee Min-woo, who followed, gave up a straight walk to Davidson, and rushed to the first and second bases with one out, and Kim Hwi-jip had an RBI double to widen the score to 2-5.
In the top of the sixth inning, Hanwha pulled out Jang Jin-hyuk's card as pinch hitter in the batter's box of leadoff hitter Choi Jae-hoon. Jang calmly drew a walk to create a chance for the first base with no outs, but the next batter Lee Jin-young lost his timing to the curveball in the middle of the first pitch, cutting the flow to the second base with a double play.
With one out in the top of the seventh inning, Noh Si-hwan made another chance with a left-handed hit. This time, however, Chae Eun-seong, the hero of the tying solo shot in the second inning, poured cold water on Ryu. With the ball count 1-1, Chae pulled Ryu Jin-wook's third cutter and hit a double play with a ground ball to the shortstop.
Hanwha's batters, who lost their chances with three double plays, withdrew helplessly in the eighth and ninth innings and lost 2-5.
Hanwha's move this year is a roller coaster in and of itself. Hanwha, which ambitiously entered the 2024 season by announcing the end of its rebuilding campaign, took the top spot in the early days of the season and experienced the pain of falling to the bottom in May. Hanwha, which marked 10th place after losing to the LG Twins on May 23, rebounded to eighth place soon afterwards, but eventually made a move to change its coach.
The Hanwha Eagles, who have recorded a winning percentage (12 wins, 1 draw and 12 losses) in 25 games since Kim Kyung-moon's inauguration on June 3, finished the first half by a gap of 3.5 games with the fifth-ranked team, dreaming of a full-fledged leap to the mid-ranked team in the second half. However, when the second half began, the team recorded eight wins and 11 losses in 19 games, widening its gap from the fifth-ranked team to 6.5 games as of July 31. Hanwha, which seemed to be moving away from the autumn baseball league, succeeded in rebounding with 14 wins and 10 losses in 24 games in August, and narrowed its gap with the fifth-ranked KT Wiz to one game by the time the game ended on August 4.
The 5th place, which seemed to be reached with a little more reach, could not be Hanwha's position in the end. Since the 5th, Hanwha has gone on a sharp downward spiral of 3 wins and 9 losses in 12 games. During that period, the mound collapsed due to the lowest team ERA (7.12), but the biggest problem is the batting lineup. In the recent 12 games, Hanwha has only scored 35 points (2.92 points per game) due to the coldness of its bat with a team batting average of 0.226.
Among them, the double play problem has been hampered throughout the second half of this season. In this season, Hanwha ranks third overall in the league with 102 double plays by its team. Narrowing the scope into the second half, Hanwha has 52 plays in 54 games, the only team with 50 or more, ranking No. 1 overall. In September, Hanwha had 22 double plays in 14 games, and posted 1.57 plays per game, which is a serious problem. 메이저놀이터
According to "psodds.com ", a website that discloses the probability of advancing to the postseason using the Pittagoryan winning rate, Hanwha's chances of advancing to the postseason are only 0.2 percent as of the 19th. Although the trick number is "3" due to the superiority of the match against fifth-ranked KT (10 wins and 6 losses), the team has to pray that other teams will fall into a slump after winning all eight remaining games. Hanwha has effectively moved away from the fall baseball due to its frustrating offense and double play in the most important place.