Hanwha's Lee Min-woo, who had been pitching well, struggled with his first three consecutive appearances of the season, ultimately taking the loss after failing to secure the save.

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Min-woo (33), the "reliable man" of the Hanwha Eagles bullpen, could not overcome the wall of his first three consecutive appearances of the season and hung his head. His fighting spirit, which had taken the mound for three consecutive games for the team, ultimately hit a physical limit. He struggled hard to fill the void left by Kim Seo-hyun (22), the closer from last season, but ended the game with a sense of regret, as he was not a professional closer.

On the 12th, Lee Min-woo appeared in the bottom of the 9th inning with a 3-1 lead in a save situation during an away game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul, but allowed a walk-off hit, becoming the losing pitcher. Given that he had silently played the role of the mound's anchor, the regret of his first blown save and loss of the season was even greater.

In fact, Lee Min-woo had already made consecutive appearances in games against the KIA Tigers at his home in Daejeon on the 10th and 11th. Appearing for three consecutive days, including the game held at Gocheok, was simply too much. From the moment he took the mound, it was evident that Lee Min-woo's velocity and control were not at his usual level.

It was a rough start from the beginning. After allowing a left-handed ground single to leadoff batter Lim Byung-wook, he also gave up a walk to the following batter, Kim Geon-hee, instantly facing a desperate situation with no outs and runners on first and second. Lee Min-woo then struck out two pinch-hitters from Kiwoom, Kim Tae-jin and Im Ji-yeol, in succession, displaying tremendous fighting spirit.

Only one out remained to secure the victory. However, Lee Min-woo ultimately could not overcome the final hurdle. With two outs and runners on first and second, he gave up a one-run, two-out, two-base hit to pinch-hitter Yeo Dong-wook, allowing a one-run comeback, and then surrendered a two-run, walk-off triple to Seo Geon-chang that split the gap between right and center field, ultimately collapsing.

Hanwha's "three-consecutive-appearances gamble" from the bench ultimately returned with a painful result. Due to Lee Min-woo's collapse, Hanwha squandered the chance to secure a three-game winning streak and leap into sole fourth place in an instant. Furthermore, the team felt the absence of a powerful relief pitcher with strong velocity to replace the tired pitcher from consecutive appearances, especially the void left by Kim Seo-hyun, who recorded 33 saves last season, leaving them with a heavy task for future bullpen management.

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*This content was translated by AI.