Flying high again: Hanwha Eagles return to Korean Series after 19-year wait
Hanwha Eagles starter Cody Ponce celebrates after completing the top of the fifth inning of Game 5 of the second-round series in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason against the Samsung Lions at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon, Friday. Yonhap
The Hanwha Eagles are going to the Korean Series for the first time in 19 years.
The Eagles routed the Samsung Lions 11-2 on Friday at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon to win the best-of-five Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason series in five games,
With this convincing win before a sellout crowd of 16,750, the Eagles punched their ticket to the KBO championship stage and booked a date with the LG Twins.
Starter Cody Ponce struck out nine in five strong innings, while the bats exploded for 13 hits, with cleanup Roh Si-hwan getting four hits and captain Chae Eun-seong driving in five runs.
The Twins earned a bye to the Korean Series after posting the best record in the regular season. The best-of-seven series starts at 2 p.m. Sunday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.
The Eagles last played in the Korean Series in 2006. Their only title came in 1999. The Twins will try to capture their second title in three seasons.
Although he did not pitch in this game, Eagles pitcher Moon Dong-ju was voted the MVP of this series. A starting pitcher during the regular season, the right-hander made two relief appearances against the Lions and held them scoreless over six innings while striking out 10.
Moon threw two shutout innings and struck out four to earn a hold in a 9-8 win in Game 1 last Saturday. He threw a fastball at 161.6 kilometers per hour, the hardest pitch by anyone this year.
Then in Game 2 on Tuesday, Moon covered the final four innings in a 5-4 victory and was credited with the win in relief. He gave up just two hits and punched out six more batters.
Moon Dong-ju earned 61 out of 87 votes cast by members of the media, with Moon Hyun-bin finishing a distant runner-up with 13 votes.
In Friday's game, Ponce pitched out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the top of the first by striking out Kim Tae-hoon with three straight changeups.
Chae Eun-seong of the Hanwha Eagles, left, celebrates after hitting an RBI double against the Samsung Lions during Game 5 of the second-round series in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon, Friday. Yonhap
Ponce's teammates didn't miss when they put runners aboard in the bottom half of that inning. The first two batters reached with a single and a walk against starter Choi Won-tae, and a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third.
Roh Si-hwan then brought in the game's first run with a single to left field, and Chae Eun-seong's sacrifice fly gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
The Lions cut that deficit in half in the top second. Lee Jae-hyeon led things off with a double off the right-field wall, took third on a flyout and then came home on a passed ball charged to catcher Choi Jae-hoon.
Ponce pulled off another escape act in the top third. After allowing a leadoff single, Ponce took a line drive by Lewin Diaz to his left chest before alertly picking up the ball and throwing out Diaz.
With first base open, Ponce intentionally walked Kim Young-woong, who entered this game with three home runs and a ridiculous 1.429 slugging percentage this series. The move paid off, as Ponce retired the next batter, Kim Tae-hoon, on a dribbler toward the mound.
The Eagles opened up a 5-1 lead in the bottom third, thanks to some key hits and a pair of Lions errors.
With one out, Moon Hyun-bin doubled and Roh singled to give the Eagles men at the corners.
Chae then ripped a double into the right field corner, allowing Moon to score easily. And when second baseman Ryu Ji-hyuk's relay throw missed the target, Roh also came home while Chae took third.
Chae scored moments later when shortstop Lee Jae-hyeon bounced a throw to first base trying to get Kim Tae-yean for what should have been the inning's final out.
Staked to a comfortable lead, Ponce kept the Lions off the board over the next two innings while striking out four batters.
The Eagles blew the game open with two more runs in the bottom fifth. A double and a single put runners at second and third for Chae Eun-seong, who drove both home for a 7-1 lead.
The Eagles' lead grew to 8-1 in the bottom sixth when Moon Hyun-bin drew a bases-loaded walk.
After the Lions got their second run with a sacrifice fly in the top eighth, Moon landed the knockout punch with a two-run home run in the bottom eighth for a 10-2 Eagles lead.
Chae then drove Moon home with a single to give himself five RBIs for the night.
Another starting pitcher, Ryan Weiss, took over from Ponce to begin the sixth and got the final 12 outs, four via strikeouts.
The Lions committed three errors in the loss.
The Eagles' heart of the order did most of the damage at the plate, as Moon Hyun-bin, Roh and Chae combined for 10 hits, seven runs and nine RBIs.