The Hanwha Eagles lost a pitcher’s duel.

Hanwha used six pitchers in a 6-9 loss to the KIUM Heroes of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park on Sunday. The loss snapped Hanwha’s recent two-game winning streak (one tie).

Han Seung-hyuk, a hard-throwing right-hander, started the game as a substitute and only planned to throw a maximum of 60 pitches, throwing 50 before leaving the mound after three innings and one run. The remaining six innings were pitched by five bullpen arms. The bats were especially needed on a day like this, as the pitching staff was exhausted from a 2-2 tie in the 12th inning the day before.

Hanwha scored plenty of runs, but it was two missed opportunities that proved costly. In the bottom of the third inning, Hanwha had the first chance to score with back-to-back singles by Lee Do-yoon and Park Sang-un, but Jung Eun-won grounded out to the second baseman and Kim Tae-yeon struck out swinging.토토사이트

In the bottom of the fourth, Noh Si-hwan led off with a single and Kim In-hwan’s grounder to second was misplayed by the second baseman, leaving the bases loaded. Moon Hyun-bin singled to load the bases. However, pinch-hitter Lee Jin-young struck out swinging and Lee Do-yoon flied out to left field.

In the bottom of the fifth, Noh Si-hwan’s triple to left field with runners on first and second gave Hanwha a 3-4 lead, and the team had another golden opportunity in the top of the sixth. Moon Hyun-bin shook up the infield with a bunt single against reliever Kim Jae-woong, and Lee Jin-yeo drew a walk. Lee Do-yoon followed with a single to left to load the bases.

However, two outs quickly followed as Park Sang-un hit a third baseman-catcher-first baseman double play. With runners on second and third, third baseman Lee Jin-young tried to extend the lead but was caught in the pitcher’s circle, ending the inning in vain.

Han Seung-hyuk, Hanwha’s starting pitcher on the 17th ⓒHanwha Eagles

Hanwha kept the game close with its bullpen pitchers. Trailing 3-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Hanwha rallied to make it 6-5 thanks to back-to-back RBI singles by Noh Si-hwan and Chae Eun-sung and an RBI sacrifice fly by Moon Hyun-bin.

But in the top of the eighth, the pitching staff collapsed. Kang Jae-min gave up four runs on four hits and four walks in ⅔ of an inning. Hanwha was pinned down in the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings by Kiwoom’s bullpen and was unable to fight back. Unable to find a spark in time to save the day, Hanwha missed a chance to overtake Samsung, who also lost on the day, and move out of last place.