▲ Hanwha Eagles' Wilkel Hernandez — he delivered his best start of the season on the 25th against NC, tossing seven innings and allowing one run. ⓒ Hanwha Eagles 
▲ Hanwha Eagles' Wilkel Hernandez. ⓒ Hanwha Eagles
DAEJEON — Wilkel Hernandez has put the “one-out, seven-run” disaster behind him.
He followed a six-inning, scoreless outing in his next start with a seven-inning, one-run performance, setting a personal single-game innings mark in back-to-back starts since his KBO debut. Hanwha leaned on Hernandez’s strong outing to snap a 10-game home losing streak.
On the 25th at Daejeon’s Hanwha Life Ballpark, Hernandez started against the NC Dinos in the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League and earned the win, pitching seven innings while allowing eight hits, one walk and striking out four. It was his second straight victory and his third of the season. His ERA, which had climbed as high as 9.98, dropped to 5.72. Hanwha beat NC 8–1 to end the 10-game home skid.
He escaped a second-inning jam with no outs and runners on first and second, limiting the damage, and then settled in to finish the seventh. With one out and runners at second and third, he induced a ground ball that traded a run for an out. In the fifth, the defense turned a double play to erase another one-out, first-and-second threat.
After the game, Hernandez said, "I'm happy we won, and I'm especially glad we could give this win to the fans who come out and fill the stands every game."
▲ Hanwha Eagles' Yonathan Peraza and Wilkel Hernandez. ⓒ Hanwha Eagles
After allowing seven runs while recording just one out against Samsung on the 15th, Hernandez steadied himself. He followed a six-inning, five-hit, scoreless start against Lotte on the 19th with the seven-inning, eight-hit, one-run outing against NC on the 25th.
"Today I tried to attack from the mound," Hernandez said. "The opposing hitters were swinging early in the count, so I was fortunate to go seven innings."
"Above all, I was able to pitch with peace of mind thanks to my teammates — not just for their defense but for our offense as well," he added. "I'm grateful to the teammates who helped secure this win. I'll keep working to be a pitcher who can eat up innings and deliver quality starts."
