Kiwoom Heroes foreign hitter Ruben Cardinez (28) continued his RBI streak in seven consecutive games, ranking first in the league in RBIs.안전놀이터

Cardinez started the game against the SSG Landers in the regular season of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 29th and scored two hits (one home run) and two RBIs in four at-bats.

Cardinez, who grounded out to the third base in his first at-bat in the first inning, fired a tiebreaking solo shot against opposing starter Kim Kwang-hyun in his second at-bat after one out in the top of the fourth inning when his team was trailing 0-1.

His performance didn't end there. Cardinez, who led the game to a tie in the previous inning, hit a hit to left field with runners on first and third bases with two outs in the fifth inning, and in the meantime, third baseman Yang Hyeon-jong hit a come-from-behind RBI single as he homered.

Ha Young-min, who was Kiwoom's starting pitcher on the day, tied the SSG lineup after one run in the first inning, and pitched seven strikeouts with five hits, one run, one walk, and seven strikeouts in seven innings and left the mound. Park Yoon-sung and Joo Seung-woo, who followed, each blocked one inning without losing a point, securing holds and saves.

Kiwoom, who ran away one more point with Choi Joo-hwan's solo shot in the bottom of the eighth inning, won 3-1.

Cardinez's performance this season is unusual. It was his seventh consecutive RBI since the season's opening. Through this game, Cardinez tied for first in RBIs in the most consecutive games since the season's opening along with Kim Jae-hwan of the Doosan Bears in the 2020 season. Needless to say, he is the overwhelming No. 1 in RBIs in terms of individual RBIs. He had 16 RBIs, five more than Matt Davidson (11 RBIs), who came in second place.

When Cardinez first joined Kiwoom, there was doubt about him. This is because Cardinez already had a bad relationship with the Korean stage.

Cardinez, who wore the Samsung Lions uniform as a substitute for David McKinnon as a foreign hitter in July last year, showed off his great slugging capability by shooting a 140 meter home run just two games after his debut. He completely different from his predecessor, McKinnon, and he completely quenched Samsung fans' thirst for long-distance shots.

However, he missed a swing and missed the match against the KT Wiz on July 26, and was substituted due to back pain, and was banned from the game for 10 days afterwards. After being substituted as a substitute at the match against Hanwha on August 6, he was immediately replaced as he displayed somewhat insincere plays in defense. He was also mired in criticism that he was not active due to his attitude.

Samsung, which had to start preparation for the postseason, could not wait for Cardinez to recover from his injury, and eventually released him in 35 days. Only seven games have Cardinez played for Samsung. In 2018, he was stigmatized as a substitute for the "least-ever game release" by beating Scott Van Slick of the Doosan Bears (12 games).

The inside story of the incident was revealed only after the season ended. The cause was communication problems between Samsung's training part and the field. "We confirmed that his side injury completely recovered during the recruitment process, and we conducted video interviews twice to thoroughly examine the player's disposition, attitude toward baseball, sincerity, and responsibility," Kiwoom said when announcing its recruitment.

As a result, Kiwoom's choice has become a stroke of genius. With a batting average of 0.440 (11 hits in 25 at-bats) and a three-homer OPS of 1.355 in seven games, Cardinez ranks highest in almost every offensive indicator as well as RBI.