Give me the first place. Hanwha retook the lead in a day! KT's escape for two consecutive losses → Ponce, the opening record of 14 consecutive wins

Aug 06, 2025

Hanwha Eagles Cody Ponce. Photo courtesy = Hanwha Eagles

photo courtesy of Hanwha Eagles

Hanwha Eagles have escaped their second consecutive loss. Cody Ponce has won 14 consecutive games, the most in the history of opening games.

Hanwha won the home game against KT Wiz 5-4 at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 6th. Hanwha, which has emerged from its second consecutive loss, became the second team to win 60 games (3 draws and 39 losses) after the LG Twins. In addition, LG lost against Doosan in Jamsil on the same day, recording 62 wins, 2 draws, and 41 losses in the season, and Hanwha rose to the lead in a day. KT had 51 wins, 4 draws and 51 losses in the season.

Hanwha kept the mound with one run as starter Cody Ponce struck out nine in five innings. Ponce earned his 14th victory on the day. Ponce, who continued his unbeaten streak since the opening, tied for the most consecutive wins in the opening period held by Jung Min-tae (then Hyundai) in 2003 and Hector Noesi (then KIA) in 2017.

photo courtesy of Hanwha Eagles

For Hanwha, Kim Tae-yeon (first baseman), Luis Liberato (middle fielder), Moon Hyun-bin (left fielder), Noh Si-hwan (third baseman), Chae Eun-sung (designated hitter), Ha Joo-seok (right fielder), Lee Won-seok (right fielder), Choi Jae-hoon (catcher), and Lee Do-yoon (second baseman) were listed in the starting lineup.

KT's lineup was formed in the order of Andrew Stevenson (center fielder), Huh Kyung-min (third baseman), Ahn Hyun-min (right fielder), Kang Baek-ho (designated hitter), Jang Sung-woo (catcher), Kim Junghoon Lee (left fielder), Hwang Jae-gyun (left fielder), Oh Yoon-seok (second baseman), and Kwon Dong-jin (striker).

Hanwha's batting lineup, which had been silent the previous day (5th), broke out from the beginning. Riverato drew a walk with one out in the bottom of the first inning, followed by Moon Hyun-bin's hit. Noh Si-hwan stepped down with a fly ball, but Chae Eun-sung and Ha Joo-seok took a 2-0 lead with consecutive timely hits.

photo courtesy of Hanwha Eagles

Hanwha's additional score came out in the bottom of the second inning. In the absence of a runner with two outs, Liberato's two-run home run followed by Kim Tae-yeon's walk. After a game of exclusion and nine pitches, he targeted the fastball that came in high. Later, Moon Hyun-bin and Noh Si-hwan's consecutive hits and Chae Eun-sung's timely hit widened the score to 5-0.

KT broke its silence in the top of the fifth inning. Hwang Jae-gyun and Jang Joon-won followed one point with back-to-back doubles. However, Kwon Dong-jin and Stevenson later turned to the infield fly ball, and Heo Kyung-min drew a walk, but he failed to score an additional point as he struck out Ahn Hyun-min.

KT targeted Hanwha closer Kim Seo-hyun. Kim Seo-hyun took the mound in the ninth inning to finish the game after coming up with two outs in the eighth inning. KT followed a point with walks by Kwon Dong-jin and Huh Kyung-min in the top of the ninth inning and a timely hit by Ahn Hyun-min. Since then, Kang Baek-ho's two-run timely hit has led to a one-run gap between the two teams. Hanwha eventually lowered Kim Seo-hyun and put in Han Seung-hyuk. With Kim Sang-soo's hit, one out and runners on first and third. Since then, Hanwha, which turned off the urgent fire as Choi Jae-hoon's check led to an out, eventually secured the last out count without losing a point and kept the victory.

For Hanwha, Ponce went down the mound with one run in five innings, followed by Kim Bum-soo (⅓ innings scoreless), Park Sang-won (one ⅓ scoreless), Cho Dong-wook (zero innings scoreless), Joo Hyun-sang (one inning scoreless), Kim Seo-hyun (three runs in ⅔ innings) and Han Seung-hyuk (⅔ innings scoreless).

KT starter Bae Je-sung was shaken by five runs in two ⅓ innings. Ju-ju (3 scoreless innings), Jeon Yong-ju (1 scoreless inning), and Choi Dong-hwan (1 scoreless inning) took the mound one after another.