Professional baseball KIA left-handed ace Yang Hyeon-jong (35) reported his first win of the season after three or three attempts after failing to establish a relationship with victory despite a good pitch. It was more valuable as it led the team to 160 victories, the third in history.

Yang Hyeon-jong started in the home game안전놀이터 against Samsung in the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 22nd, striking out 7 in 5 innings and recording 3 hits, 4 walks and 1 run. He led the team to a 6-2 victory.

It was the first win of the season after three games. Yang Hyeon-jong played against Hanwha on the 11th with 3 runs in 7 innings and against Kiwoom on the 16th with 7 scoreless innings, but failed to win. With no help from the other line, the team suffered an overtime loss.

But the third was different. The KIA lineup scored from the beginning of the day and lightened Yang Hyeon-jong’s shoulders. In the bottom of the first inning, with two outs on first and second base, which consisted of a hit by Jong-wook Ko and a walk by Hyung-woo Choi, Kim Seon-bin scored the first run with a timely hit to the left, and Lee Chang-jin’s hit led to a chance to fill the bases.

Here, batsman Woo-Hyeok Byeon, who batted 7, hit Samsung starter Won Tae-in with a devastating full blow. He hit Won Tae-in’s body slider and went over the left fence, enthralling nearly 13,000 home fans. It is the second season of Byeon Woo-hyuk, who moved from Hanwha to KIA, and is the first grand slam in his personal career.

Yang Hyeon-jong also exerted his strength. He tied the Samsung batting line by mixing a heavy fastball with a maximum speed of 145 km, a slider, and a changeup. Yang Hyeon-jong gave Jose Pirella his first hit in the first two outs, but struck out Lee Won-seok, the fourth hitter. The second inning, which received strong support of 5 points, made a three-way attack with two strikeouts.

In the third episode, Yang Hyeon-jong gave a walk to Koo Ja-wook after two runs, but treated Kim Ji-chan as a floating ball. In the 4th inning, Yang Hyeon-jong also walked the first batter, Pirella, but caught Lee Won-seok as a fly ball and struck out Kang Min-ho and Oh Jae-il to finish the inning.

Yang Hyeon-jong, who was doing well, was slightly shaken in the 5th inning. He gave up consecutive hits and allowed runs in the bottom line. He gave up 1 point after getting a heavy hit to batter Lee Jae-hyeon in 7th and a double in mid-month to 8th hitter Gong Min-gyu. However, Yang Hyeon-jong ended the 5th inning by catching Kim Ji-chan’s grounder, who sighed while striking out Lee Seong-gyu and Koo Ja-wook.

In the 6th inning, Yang Hyeon-jong came down the mound after giving consecutive walks to Pirella and Lee Won-seok in Musa. As the number of pitches exceeded 100 (103), he lost his strength. Relief pitcher Jeon Sang-hyun was hit by Kang Min-ho and was driven to the bases safely.

However, Jeon Sang-hyun gained strength from the crisis. He struck out Jae-il Oh, Jae-hyun Lee, and Min-gyu Gong one after another and did not give up a single point. Yang Hyeon-jong only had one earned run. Overcoming the crisis, KIA gave up 1 point in the 7th inning, but immediately added 1 point at the end of the 7th inning to make a wedge.

Yang Hyeon-jong stepped on the heights of 160 wins (102 losses) in his career. It is the third record in KBO history after Song Jin-woo (210 wins) and Jung Min-cheol (161 wins). If you add 2 wins this year, Yang Hyeon-jong will rise to second place in all-time wins.

KIA also ran two consecutive victories amid Yang Hyeon-jong’s good fight. With 6 wins and 10 losses, they caught up with 8th place Samsung (7 wins, 11 losses) without a ride. On the 23rd, KIA put forward Shawn Anderson as the starting pitcher to challenge for a 3-game winning streak against Samsung, where left-hander Baek Jung-hyun starts.