In the 11th match of the season between the 2024 KBO Hanwha Eagles and NC Dinos held at Cheongju Baseball Stadium, Hanwha’s second home stadium, on the 21st, the Hanwha Eagles extended their winning streak to 4 games thanks to a dramatic walk-off home run by foreign hitter Jonathan Peraza (25).
The game, which was delayed by about 30 minutes due to heavy rain and thunderstorms before kickoff due to the typhoon, was somewhat tense. Despite the sweltering weather, both teams’ pitchers, even when facing crises, delivered focused performances.
NC was the first to score. In the top of the second, NC’s cleanup hitter, Kwon Hee-dong, came out as the leadoff hitter and hit a three-pitch slider from Hanwha starter Moon Dong-joo, sending it over the left-field wall for a one-run home run.
In the bottom of the second inning, Hanwha’s leadoff hitter, Hwang Young-mook, hit a triple off of Yokishi’s third pitch, igniting a fightback. With one out, Hwang Young-mook quickly sprinted home on Lee Do-yoon’s ground ball and scored on a fielder’s choice, successfully tying the game again.
Both teams remained quiet until the top of the fifth, when NC’s No. 8 hitter, Kim Joo-won, who was playing shortstop, hit a changeup off Moon Dong-ju’s pitch, adding another run to the team’s second home run of the day. However, in the bottom of the seventh, NC, replacing Kim Si-hoon with Ryu Jin-wook, allowed a solo home run to Hanwha’s Noh Si-hwan, the tying run, putting the score back in the tie.
After that, in the bottom of the 8th, NC invited a crisis by walking Hanwha catcher Choi Jae-hoon and allowing pinch runner Lee Sang-hyeok to advance safely to third base on a throwing error in a situation where he failed to steal a base, but they held off Hanwha’s lower batting order well and went into the last attack of the regular inning in the top of the 9th.
In the top of the 9th, with the score still tied at 2-2, Hanwha bullpen pitcher Han Seung-hyuk, who came up to the mound, recorded a straight ball walk against NC’s Kwon Hee-dong and was immediately replaced by closer Joo Hyun-sang. NC then created a golden opportunity with one out and a runner on second base through Kim Hwi-jip’s sacrifice bunt in the next batting order.
However, the game was halted due to a sudden downpour following NC’s sixth batter, Park Se-hyeok, who hit a five-pitch home run. Twenty-four minutes later, the rain cleared and the game resumed, with Park Se-hyeok out on a flyout to deep right field. NC’s momentum was finally disrupted, and the next batter, Jae-hwan Cheon, also hit a flyout, sending the game into its final regulation inning.
NC tried everything to break their losing streak by changing pitchers and adjusting their defensive positions, but Hanwha’s foreign hitter Jonathan Peraza, who came up as the leadoff hitter, hit a powerful 4-pitch home run from NC’s new pitcher Kim Jae-yeol, which hit a 130-meter out-of-the-park home run, ending the game.
With this match, the Hanwha Eagles have won four straight games, closing the gap with the SSG Landers, who are in fifth place, to 1.5 games, while the NC Dinos have lost 11 straight games, swapping places with the Kiwoom Heroes, who came from a narrow win over the KT Wiz in Suwon, and are now in last place in the league.
