Why can't they perform better at home?
The Hanwha Eagles, led by manager Kim Kyung-moon, were crushed 3-14 by SSG in a home game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League at Daejeon Hanwha Life Insurance Ballpark on the 30th. That day, the club owner, Kim Seung-youn, chairman of Hanwha Group, visited the stadium, but the team dropped to eighth place after suffering its second consecutive loss.
With SSG's Kim Gun-woo and Hanwha's left-handed starter Ryu Hyun-jin facing off, a pitchers' duel continued early. Ryu Hyun-jin delivered perfect pitching through the fifth inning, allowing no SSG baserunners. Hanwha scored first in the bottom of the second, stringing together a double by Ha Ju-suk and a single to center by Choi Jae-hun to take a 1-0 lead.
But the momentum changed abruptly from the sixth inning. Leadoff hitter Choi Ji-hoon bunted on Ryu Hyun-jin's first pitch and reached on a successful bunt single. After that, a double by Oh Tae-gon and an RBI single by Jo Hyung-woo tied the game 1-1. SSG then took a 2-1 lead on an RBI by Park Seong-han with runners at first and third and no outs.
SSG, which shifted the momentum, added two more runs on an RBI by Eredia with the bases loaded and then added two more on Choi Ji-hoon's two-run RBI to make it 6-1. In the top of the seventh, Eredia's sacrifice fly stretched the lead to 7-1. In the bottom of the seventh, Hanwha answered with two runs on a single to center by Roh Si-hwan with two outs and the bases loaded.
But despite the two-run rally, they quickly gave up another run in the top of the eighth. An error led to another big inning. With one out and a runner on first, Choi Ji-hoon hit a ground ball toward the double-play spot, but a throwing error by second baseman Ha Ju-suk left the bases loaded with no outs, and Oh Tae-gon's sacrifice fly made it 8-3.
With a walk to Park Seong-han, in a two-out, runners on first and second situation, pinch hitter Jeong Jun-jae's RBI added a run, and a three-run homer by Choi Jeong pushed the score to 12-3. SSG put the game away by adding two more runs against Won Jong-hyeok in the top of the ninth. Hanwha failed to produce any notable chances through the bottom of the ninth.
This season their home record has been especially poor. Although they swept the opening series against the Kiwoom Heroes, Hanwha suffered consecutive series sweeps by the KT Wiz, KIA Tigers and Samsung Lions, and after losing to NC in Daejeon on the 24th they fell into a 10-game home losing streak. They narrowly snapped the 10-game home skid with a win on the 25th, but after the NC game they again failed to take a winning series against SSG.
After 27 games, 13 of their 16 losses have come at home in Daejeon. Hanwha's road winning percentage is 0.700, good for first, but their home winning percentage is 0.235, last place. This contrasts sharply with their strong attendance: in 17 games they sold out 16 times with 17,000 fans, posting a sellout rate of 94.1% and a seat occupancy rate of 99.88%.
Last year, Hanwha finished the regular season in second place and boasted the highest home winning percentage among 10 teams with a 44-27-2 record at Daejeon, a .620 winning percentage. But this year the trend has been the exact opposite. More often, home fans who come to the ballpark leave disappointed.
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