Wilin Rosario of the Hanwha Eagles, left, celebrates with a base-running coach after hitting an RBI single during his team's game against the Nexen Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap



By Baek Byung-yeul

The Hanwha Eagles, who have been the doormat of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) with the lowest winning percentage of .326, have had their best week of the season last week, winning four straight games.

During their weekend three-game series against the Lotte Giants, the 10th place Eagles swept the seventh-place team at their home park Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park in Daejeon.

The highlight of the series was probably Sunday's game, as the team proved they are developing into a well-balanced team both in defense and offense.

In a 9-2 win, the team's starting pitcher Esmil Rogers tossed a complete-game gem, striking out eight batters with 127 pitches. First baseman Kim Tae-kyun led the offense, hitting a two-run homerun in the bottom of the first and earning three base on balls, and shortstop Ha Ju-suk also hit a three-run shot to contribute to the team's win.

Despite four straight wins last week, the Eagles, who are last in the standings (15 wins, one draw and 31 losses), still have a long way to climb the standings, as they are four games behind the ninth-place KT Wiz (19 wins, two draws and 27 losses).

At this pace, it doesn't seem like it'll take much for the Eagles to escape from the bottom of the standings. The Eagles will have two three-game series against the fourth-place SK Wyverns Tuesday to Thursday and the sixth-place Samsung Lions this weekend.

The first-place Doosan Bears (34 wins, one draw, 13 losses), who had five wins last week, will have a three-game series with the second-place NC Dinos (26 wins, one draw, 18 losses) starting Tuesday.

It remains to be seen whether the Dinos can close the gap between them. The Bears led their first three-game series in April, recording two wins and one loss. After the series with the Dinos, the Bears will host the Wyverns at their home turf in Jamsil Baseball Stadium this weekend.

The third-place Nexen Heroes will host the Lions at their home field Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul starting Tuesday and the Giants will play against the Wiz and the Dinos respectively. The fifth-place LG Twins, who only had one win last week, will host the eight-place Kia Tigers starting Tuesday and have a three-game away series with the Wiz this weekend.