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| Han Jun-su / Photo: DB |
[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu] The KIA Tigers rallied past the Hanwha Eagles to extend their win streak to three games.
KIA defeated Hanwha 6-5 on April 11 at Hanwha Life Insurance Ballpark in Daejeon in a 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League road game.
The victory moved KIA to 5-7, while Hanwha slipped to 6-6 and dropped to sixth place.
KIA starter Lee Eui-ri struggled, allowing four runs on five hits (one home run) with two strikeouts and one walk over four innings, but he did not take the loss.
At the plate, Dale, Kim Sun-bin, Han Jun-su and Park Jae-hyun each recorded multi-hit games to fuel KIA’s comeback.
Hanwha starter Wang Yencheng turned in a strong outing, tossing six innings, allowing six hits with five strikeouts and no walks while yielding one run, but he left without a decision.
Hanwha struck first with the long ball. In the bottom of the first, Moon Hyun-bin crushed Lee Eui-ri’s 148 km/h fastball over the right-field wall for a solo homer.
Hanwha built on it in the third. After Shim Woo-jun drew a walk with one out and a runner on first, Lee Won-seok ripped a run-scoring triple to center. A sacrifice fly by Peraza followed, and Hanwha led 3-0.
KIA had trouble solving Wang early. Leadoff hits in both the first and second innings failed to produce runs as KIA left those runners stranded.
KIA went down in order in the top of the third as Park Sang-jun, Park Jae-hyun and Dale were all retired.
Hanwha pushed the lead further in the fourth. Consecutive hits from Kang Baek-ho and Chae Eun-seong put runners on, and after Noh Si-hwan’s sacrifice bunt created a one-out, runners at second and third, Ha Joo-seok hit a grounder to the pitcher. Kang attempted to score and was tagged out, but Huh In-seo followed with an RBI single up the middle to make it 4-0.
KIA finally broke through in the fifth. With two outs and a runner on second after a double by Han Jun-su, Park Jae-hyun delivered an RBI single to pull KIA within three.
The Tigers flipped the script with a big eighth inning. In the top of the eighth, Park Jae-hyun reached on an infield single and Dale followed with a hit to put runners at the corners. A wild pitch by Jung Woo-joo allowed Park to score, and Kim Ho-ryeong then drew a walk.
With runners at first and second and no outs, Kim Sun-bin lined an RBI single to center, and Kim Do-young’s sacrifice fly to left tied the game.
After Casatro struck out, Na Sung-beom delivered a two-out single with a runner on first. Han Jun-su and Ko Jong-wook followed with run-producing hits, quickly turning the inning into a 6-4 KIA lead.
Hanwha threatened in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and a runner on second after Shim Woo-jun’s double, Choi In-ho produced an RBI single, but Hanwha could not get the tying run across. KIA held on for a 6-5 comeback win.
[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu sports@stoo.com]
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