KIA Tigers 162 wins Yang Hyun-jong (35) pitched another poor game.
Yang Hyun-jong was not smiling when he started against the SSG Landers at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on Sunday. He gave up seven runs on 11 hits (two walks) in 4⅓ innings, an unbelievable back-to-back. In two games in June, he gave up 16 runs in 6⅓ innings. His ERA skyrocketed from 3.57 to 4.55.
In his resignation game against the Lotte Giants on June 2, Yang gave up seven runs in the first inning and two runs in the second inning. It was his most runs allowed in a single game since joining the team in 2007. Lotte batters attacked Yang with aggressive hitting from the very beginning. It was a shocking amount of runs for a pitcher who had been in great shape from the start.
His ERA increased from 2.29 to 3.57. He pitched on the same day, four days apart. Moreover, he was absolutely strong for SSG. They have won nine consecutive games since August 11, 2018, against Munhak. He also proved to be a formidable foe in the Gwangju game on May 9, when he pitched eight scoreless innings.
He retired all three batters in the first inning, but the signs were there from the second inning. In the first inning, Ha Jae-hoon singled and Oh Tae-gon walked. Kim Sung-hyun flied out to center field and Kim Min-sik induced a grounder in front of the pitcher on a full count to end the threat. Socrates Brito and Choi Hyung-woo supported with back-to-back singles in the first inning.
However, they faltered in the third inning. Leadoff hitter Kang Jin-sung and Choi Ji-hoon hit back-to-back doubles over the center-field fence to score the first run. A batter later, Choi gave up a single to left field to tie the game. He struck out Heredia, but gave up a walk to Ha Jae-hoon and an RBI single to Oh Tae-gon.
In the bottom of the third inning, Socrates hit a three-run homer to right center to cut the deficit to 5-3. But in the bottom of the fourth inning, he allowed four straight hits. Choi Ji-hoon singled to left, Park Sung singled to right-center, and Choi Jeong singled to left. Heredia was unable to get out of the jam, giving up a two-run double to left-center to cut the deficit to 5-6.
In the fifth inning, Oh gave up a double to Tae-gon Oh that fell just short of the third base line, and with runners on first and third, Kim Min-sik doubled to right-center. Eventually, pitching coach Jung Myung-won came out to announce the eighth inning. For the second game in a row, Kang gave up a run before the fifth inning. It was a nightmare June. Hwang Dong-ha got two outs and no more runs were scored. 먹튀검증
Yang Hyun-jong’s slump was completely unexpected. Through May, he was cruising with a 2.29 ERA with five quality starts in eight games. He even passed Hanwha legend Jung Min-cheol for second place on the all-time wins list (162). However, his sudden struggles in June have been a cause for concern.
KIA’s foreign duo of Shawn Anderson and Adonis Medina hasn’t proven to be a force to be reckoned with. Lee Yi-ri has been throwing hot pitches but hasn’t been able to get many innings due to poor control. Add to that the faltering form of Yang Hyun-jong, and the KIA starting lineup is in trouble.