Kia Tigers pitcher Yang Hyun-jong (35) has been hit hard for the second straight game in June.

Yang Hyeon-jong started a home game against the SSG Landers of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League on May 7 at KIA Champions Field in Gwangju, giving up seven runs on 11 hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

Yang moved into sole possession of second place on the KBO’s all-time wins list with his third win of the season and 162nd win of his career on May 27 against the Gwangju LG Twins, but he failed to accumulate wins in two consecutive games.

On May 2 against the Sasik Lotte Giants, Yang gave up nine runs on nine hits (one home run) and two walks in two innings, the most runs allowed in a single game since his professional debut, and also fell apart in his first start in five days.

Yang’s ERA in June is a staggering 22.74 (16 runs in 6 1/3 innings) due to a significant drop in command. His season ERA, which was 2.29 through May, has soared to 4.55.

KIA took the early lead in the game. They scored two runs in the first inning on back-to-back home runs by Socrates Brito and Choi Hyung-woo, and Yang Hyun-jong kept the game scoreless until the second inning.

However, Yang started to falter in the top of the third inning when SSG’s batting order turned a corner.

Yang gave up back-to-back doubles to Kang Jin-sung and Choi Ji-hoon for the first run, and then gave up the tying run to Choi Jeong with the bases loaded. He struck out Guillermo Heredia, but gave up a walk to Ha Jae-hoon and an RBI single to Oh Tae-gon.

Socrates hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game, but Yang Hyun-jong was unable to protect the two-run lead. 토토사이트

Two batters later in the fourth inning, Yang gave up three runs on four consecutive hits to Choi Ji-hoon, Park Sung-hwan, Choi Jeong, and Heredia. A fastball, slider, and changeup were all used against him.

Yang Hyun-jong remained on the mound in the top of the fifth, but he didn’t last long.

SSG batters loaded the bases on a sacrifice bunt by Kim Sung-hyun after Oh Tae-gon hit a double after a video review. Kim Min-sik followed with an RBI double to pull Yang Hyun-jong off the mound.

Luckily, the second pitcher, Hwang Dong-ha, got the next batter to ground out to end the inning.