Ryu Hyun-jin Shines: How He Led Hanwha Eagles to Break 6-Game Losing Streak

[SPOTV News—Sajik, Park Seung-hwan] The game’s hero, as expected, was Ryu Hyun-jin.

The Hanwha Eagles shut out the Lotte Giants, 5-0, on April 18 at Busan’s Sajik Stadium, taking the first meeting of the season series in the 2026 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League.

Hanwha had been in a rut. The slide began last weekend against the KIA Tigers, continued with a three-game set loss to the Samsung Lions during the week, and stretched into a six-game losing streak. After the April 16 game, some even questioned the team’s resolve for not requesting a video review.

But the rainout on the 17th turned into a timely break. The club had planned to rest Kang Baek-ho and was lining up spot starter Park Jun-young because of a rotation gap. With the cancellation, Kang got a needed day off and the team was able to push Ryu Hyun-jin into the April 18 start.

Hanwha grabbed control early. In the top of the third, with one out and nobody on, Lee Won-seok opened the scoring with a triple to right off Lotte starter Jeremy Bisley. Yonathan Perez followed with an RBI single. A wild pitch then moved runners into scoring position, and on Moon Hyun-bin’s grounder to second, Lotte’s fielder’s choice allowed a run to score, stretching the lead to 2-0.

Momentum kept building. With one out and a runner on first, Kang Baek-ho ripped an RBI double into the center gap off Bisley to push the lead further.

The pitching was steady. After a 10-day layoff, Ryu began by retiring the side in order in the first. He snuffed out a one-out, runner-on-second threat in the second and escaped a two-out, runners-on-1st-and-3rd jam in the third. In the fourth inning he induced a double play to finish another scoreless frame.

Ryu posted another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth and retired the lower order in the sixth without allowing a run. Hanwha added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, and Ryu returned for the bottom of the seventh to complete a Quality Start+ (seven innings, three earned runs or fewer). The Eagles tacked on one more in the eighth and closed out the 5-0 win, finally snapping the six-game skid.

Ryu finished seven innings with 86 pitches, yielding four hits, issuing no walks, striking out three and allowing no runs to earn his second win of the season. Offensively, Yonathan Perez had a big night with three hits, one RBI, two runs and a walk, including the go-ahead knock. Lee Won-seok had two hits with one RBI, one run and a walk, and Moon Hyun-bin chipped in with one hit, two RBIs and a run—contributions that were key to ending the losing streak.

After the game, Manager Kim Kyung-moon praised the team’s mindset. “Everyone had a tough time during the losing streak, but today the players showed a strong will to win,” he said, giving credit to the clubhouse for the effort that produced the victory.

He singled out Ryu for his performance. “As a starter, Ryu threw efficiently and ate seven innings to secure the win. His veteran presence stopped the skid. The hitters got us early and helped set the tone—everyone contributed today,” Kim said with a smile.