KIA Tigers pitcher Yang Hyun-jong (35) has set a new record for most wins in a KBO start.
Yang started the game against the visiting SSG Landers at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on April 1 and pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and one walk.
He gave up an infield single to Choi Ji-hoon and a single to Guillermo Heredia in left field, but it was not a threat.
With a 6-0 lead in the eighth inning, Yang handed the baton to Jeon Sang-hyun and walked off the mound.
Throwing 98 pitches, Yang struck out three and was one away from reaching triple-digit strikeouts for the ninth straight season.
With KIA’s 10-2 victory, Yang now has 164 career wins as a starter, passing Song Jin-woo for the new top spot in the KBO.
Song Jin-woo (210 wins) remains the all-time wins leader with 163 starts and 47 relief wins. Yang Hyun-jong has 164 of his 166 career wins, minus two relief wins, in starts.
The KIA bats pounded out 14 hits, including three home runs, to torment the SSG mound.
In particular, they showed frightening concentration after two outs to help Yang Hyun-jong challenge for the record.
In the top of the third inning, with the score 0-0, Kia had a chance to score through No. 1 hitter Park Chan-ho, who singled to right and promptly stole second base after two outs.
No. 2 Kim Do-young followed with an RBI double to left-center field, and Na Sung-beom followed with a single to left field to bring home Kim.
In the fourth inning, leadoff hitter Socrates Brito hit a solo arch to right center to make it 3-0.
Park Chan-ho, who has really opened his eyes to hitting this season, pulled a fastball from SSG starter Roenis Elias with two outs in the bottom of the fourth for a two-run home run that went over the left field fence like a bullet.
KIA scored its sixth run in the seventh on Kim Do-young’s single up the middle, followed by a stolen base and Na Sung-bum’s RBI single to right.
Socrates, who moved from center field to left field during the game, missed an easy grounder by Choi Ji-hoon on defense in the bottom of the eighth to cut KIA’s deficit to 2-6, but Na Sung-bum drove in the winning run in the top of the ninth with a three-run homer to right-center field.
Na Sung-bum went 3-for-4 with five RBIs, while table-setters Park Chan-ho and Kim Do-young each finished with three hits and three RBIs. 먹튀검증