Hanwha Eagles’ foreign left-hander Ricardo Sanchez has fond memories of playing against the LG Twins. On June 10, he made a start against LG and threw a complete game shutout, allowing two hits and striking out eight in eight innings. He pitched his best game against LG when he joined the team in May.

Those fond memories came back to haunt him three months later. On February 2, he started against LG and threw six innings of three-hit ball. It came as the team was on an eight-game losing streak. The bullpen struggles prevented him from getting the win, but it was his most impactful performance in recent memory. Hanwha snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over first-place LG.

In his first start in eight days, Sanchez was full of energy.

In the first inning, he walked leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki. However, he cleanly knocked out the opposing center fielder. He retired Shin Min-jae at second, Kim Hyun-soo at third, and Austin Dean at fourth with a straight fly to first, a popup to center, and a grounder to third.

The second inning ended with a triple. Moon Bo-kyung grounded out to second, Oh Ji-hwan flied out to left, and Park Dong-won grounded out to seventh.

In the third inning, Jamsil continued its lighthearted pace. He retired Moon Sung-joo and Park Hae-min on infield grounders and a strikeout. Eight batters reached base in a row. He then singled to left and Shin Min-jae doubled to left field. With runners on second and third, he got Kim Hyun-soo on a grounder to first to end the inning.

Sanchez retired batters 4-6 in the fourth, 7-9 in the fifth, and 1-3 in the sixth. With 92 pitches, he completely shut down LG’s batting average.

Hanwha opened the scoring in the second inning with RBI singles by Kim Tae-yeon and Jang Jin-hyuk. With a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning, Noh Si-hwan hit his 30th two-run homer of the season to take the pressure off Sanchez. He took a 148-kilometer-per-hour fastball from Yoo Young-chan, who came on after starter Kim Yun-sik. He hadn’t hit a home run in eight games since hitting his 29th on Aug. 19 against the KT Wiz.

Noh became the first Hanwha player in five years to reach the 30-homer plateau after Lee Sung-yeol (34) and Gerard Hoying (30) in 2018. It is the 10th 30-homer season for a Hanwha player.

Trailing 0-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the LG Twins’ bats came alive. The opposing pitcher was Jang Si-hwan. Park Dong-won led off with a walk. Moon Sung-joo followed with a single to left to put runners on first and third. In the ninth inning, Park Hae-min tied the game with a three-run home run to right. He took a first-pitch slider to center field.먹튀검증

In the top of the ninth, tied 3-3, Han Hwa broke down LG closer Ko Woo-seok. With the bases loaded, Lee Jin-young hit a two-run double to turn the tide again.

In the bottom of the ninth, Park Sang-won came on and secured the 5-3 victory.