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| The Hanwha Eagles players walk from the dugout after losing to the LG Twins at the Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon, Sunday. / Yonhap |
By Baek Byung-yeul
The games last weekend apparently weren't what the Hanwha Eagles fans wanted to see.
Three weeks into the new baseball season and the Eagles are last among the ten KBO teams, winning only two games while losing 11.
Last week was probably the beginning of the worst season for the Daejeon-based team. The Eagles hosted two Seoul-based teams ― the Doosan Bears during the week and the LG Twins on the weekend ― but couldn't pick up a win in the five games.
The Eagles allowed 56 runs in the last five games and they might have extended their losing streak to six if the Saturday game against the Twins hadn't been canceled due to rain.
What is worse is that the team suffered a huge margin of defeat after several coaches were shuffled around Wednesday ― the team took a 17-2 drubbing from the Bears, Thursday, and an 18-2 loss against the Twins, n Friday.
Team manager Kim Sung-keun said the Eagles can turn the situation around by the end of this month once the injured starting pitchers ― Esmil Rogers, Ahn Young-myung, Lee Tae-yang and Bae Young-soo ― make their return. But it remains to be seen whether these pitchers can perform as they did before their injuries.
The Eagles will have a three-game series with the Lotte Giants this week and meet the Bears again this weekend.
Unlike the Eagles, the defending champion Bears have gotten off to a smooth start, taking the top spot in the standings with nine wins, one tie and three losses.
While having a series against the Eagles and the Samsung Lions, they took five wins thanks to the solid pitching of the starters who have recorded a 3.95 ERA, second best among team pitching staffs following the Giants with 3.91.
Before taking on the Eagles at home this weekend, the Bears will have a three-game series with the No. 5 KT Wiz (seven wins and seven losses) at the Suwon KT Wiz Park during the week.
The No. 2 SK Wyverns (nine wins and five losses), who defeated the Wiz 10-6 on Sunday thanks to Jung Eui-yoon's walk-off grand slam early in the 11th inning, will host the Nexen Heroes at their home Incheon SK Happy Dream Park during the weekdays and the No. 7 NC Dinos (six wins and seven losses) over the weekend.
The No. 3 Twins (seven wins and five losses) will start their new overseas pitcher Scott Copeland this week. KBO allows each team to have at most three imported players on the roster, and the Twins had been the only team to have two overseas players. They agreed to a one-year $750,000 contract with the former Toronto Blue Jays right hander on April 9.
The Twins will host the Dinos at their home Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium during the week and have another three-game series with the Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome over the weekend.
The No. 7 Lions (six wins and seven losses) will have a three-game series with the No. 9 Kia Tigers (five wins and seven losses) and then play the Wiz.
