KIA’s Yang Hyeon-jong (36), who started as a starting pitcher in the 2024 KBO game between the Lotte Giants and the KIA Tigers held at the Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 21st, recorded 2,053 career strikeouts, surpassing Song Jin-woo’s previous league record of 2,048 strikeouts.
Yang Hyeon-jong, who had 2,046 strikeouts before the game, added seven more in five innings, setting a new record of 2,053. Furthermore, he became the third pitcher to achieve triple-digit strikeouts in 10 consecutive seasons, following Lee Kang-chul (current KT Wiz manager) and Jang Won-jun (former Doosan Bears pitcher).
Yang Hyeon-jong was sent off after a somewhat disappointing performance, allowing seven hits (two home runs) and four earned runs on 69 pitches. However, the KIA offense then came out strong. In the bottom of the fifth, KIA’s No. 4 hitter Socrates’ double and No. 6 hitter Kim Sun-bin’s RBI single tied the game at 4-4, erasing Yang’s loss.
Then, in the top of the 6th inning, Lotte Giants’ 6th batter Jeon Jun-woo hit a home run over the left-center field wall on the second pitch of a curveball from KIA’s bullpen pitcher Kwak Do-gyu, proving the strength of Lotte’s recently strong batting lineup.
However, the KIA Tigers also tried to continue their winning streak by tenaciously chasing after Na Sung-beom’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 7th to tie the score at 5-5, and then in the bottom of the 8th inning with 2 outs, 9th batter Byun Woo-hyuk hit a double and was replaced by a pinch runner, and advanced to 3rd base on a wild pitch, but Lotte 3rd baseman Son Ho-young failed to catch Park Chan-ho’s ground ball, giving KIA a 6-5 comeback.
The error was particularly painful for Son Ho-young, who had hit a game-winning three-run home run in his previous at-bat. In the top of the ninth, KIA’s closer Jeong Hae-young shut out Lotte’s top lineup with a triple play, earning the save and extending Kia’s winning streak to five games.
It was somewhat disappointing that Yang Hyeon-jong, who achieved a great record, did not record a winning pitcher, but KIA managed to catch Lotte, who had been unusually weak this season, with a focused performance, and achieved a very meaningful victory for the team.
