I didn't feel good from the first episode...Ponce threw 106 pitches and said, "One more batter!" → 21 scoreless innings, "Win, win, win."

I didn't feel good from the first episode...Ponce threw 106 pitches and said, "One more batter!" → 21 scoreless innings, "Win, win, win."

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Hanwha Eagles' Cody Ponce overcame his poor condition and showed off his ace appearance by pitching hard in seven innings.메이저놀이터

The Hanwha Eagles beat the KT Wiz 4-3 in the home game of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on Sunday. Having won two consecutive games and the Winning Series against the KT Wiz on the day, the Hanwha Eagles marked 17 wins and 13 losses overall in the season and moved up one notch to the third place.

Ponce took the mound as starting pitcher on the day and pitched seven innings of three hits, four walks and five strikeouts to secure his fifth win of the season. He pitched 109 pitches in total. He combined a maximum of 156 kilometers per hour fastball with sliders, curves, changeups, and two-seam to tie up KT's batters. He allowed no runs in seven consecutive innings for three consecutive games following the game against the Munhak SSG on Saturday and the game against the Daejeon NC Dinosaurs on Sunday. His earned run average (ERA) decreased to 1.96, and tied for first in multiple wins, first in strikeouts, and second in innings.

Ponce was not in perfect condition compared to the previous games, as evidenced by his record of four walks. As he had more balls from the beginning of the game, he had more chances to win, and was given a balk decision while throwing the ball as if his balance had collapsed in the first inning. Runners in every inning went out until the sixth inning. However, he lost zero points.
Ponce, who allowed Kwon Dong-jin to make an infield hit in the top of the first inning, caught the leadoff runner with Yoo Jun-kyu's ground ball, and Heo Kyung-min turned it into a shortstop ground ball. Bock came out of Rojas' at-bat, and it became a two-out third base, but the inning ended with a swing and miss by Rojas. In the top of the second inning, Hwang Jae-gyun was allowed to hit left field and walk to Bae Jeong-dae, but he caught Oh Yoon-seok with a fly ball to left field at the first pitch and ended the inning without losing a point.

He allowed the leadoff hitter to get on base with a walk by Kwon Dong-jin in the top of the third inning and a hit to left field by Jang Sung-woo in the top of the fourth inning, but cleared the inning without much crisis. He allowed walks to Kwon Dong-jin and Heo Kyung-min in the top of the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, but it did not lead to a major crisis.

Ponce pitched 93 pitches through the sixth inning. Ponce took the mound in the top of the seventh inning, and he garnered shortstop Shim Woo-joon's good defense to turn Hwang Jae-gyun into a straight hit before dealing with a groundout to shortstop. He then put three fastballs in the batter's box, and ended his pitch on the day by striking out swinging. His 109th and final pitches were the same speed as his first pitches at 154 km/h.
After the game, Ponce said, "First of all, I think KT is a good team and a really difficult team to deal with," adding, "Overall, I wasn't in a good condition." There was also an unstable part of my ball control, but I was able to overcome it because Choi Jae-hoon's ball combination was good. I also received a lot of defensive help. I think I was able to play well with a lot of double plays."

As his condition was not 100 percent, he could have finished the sixth inning. With 93 pitches and 6 scoreless innings, Ponce remained in charge until the end of the seventh inning. "After the sixth inning, my pitching coach asked me to deal with two batters, and I said I would do the same," Ponce said. "And when I saw the manager and the coach at the second inning, they smiled. I exchanged signatures that I would go one more batter with my eyes, and luckily I was able to block him well."

He threw 106 pitches up to two outs in the top of the seventh inning. After confirming his smile on the bench, Ponce threw three more pitches to wrap up the game. "I think I was able to finish the game well until the seventh inning because the coaching staff trusted me and gave me the innings until the end. So I want to thank him," Ponce said.

When asked about Ponce's scoreless record, he said, "Of course, a scoreless record is good, but when I get on the mound, I have to keep fighting to win. I think that's the most important part," he said, stressing, "I want to show them fighting with competition until the end whenever they make a debut."