KIA Tigers Yang Hyeon-jong laughed at the ‘Ace Showdown’. In the home game against SSG Landers held at Gwangju Stadium on the 9th, Yang Hyeon-jong pitched 8 innings, 6 hits, 10 strikeouts, 1 walk and no runs, and became the winning pitcher. Season 2 win.
The match on this day also received a lot of attention as the starting match between Yang Hyeon-jong and Kim Gwang-hyun. The two, who were born in 1988 and have been active as national aces, faced off for the first time in eight years since 2015.
The result was Yang Hyeon-jong’s complete victory. Yang Hyeon-jong won with the best pitch of the season with 6 hits, 10 strikeouts, 1 walk and no run in 8 innings. The scoring support also broke out early, and KIA won 3-0. On the other hand, Kim Gwang-hyun became a losing pitcher despite a quality start with 3 runs in 6 innings.
The following is Yang Hyeon-jong’s Q&A after the game.
– How do you feel about winning?
▶There was a wish that we would improve our condition after playing a game for the first time in a while. Since I fight with the batter, not with the pitcher, I thought about power analysis and things like that. I think I got good results because I was in good condition. I pitched aggressively and was in good condition, but I managed the number of pitches well.
– You were preparing to pitch in the ninth inning.
▶ In fact, I was greedy because I thought this kind of opportunity would not be common. However, I believed in Hae-young because the coach had to appear in the game on Sunday, and (finishing) Jung Hae-young was in the stage where his condition was improving. In fact, he wanted to go up in the ninth inning if more runs were scored at the bottom of the eighth, but it ended scoreless (unfortunately). Still, I trusted Haeyoung and came down.
-What did you talk about with pitching coach Jung Myeong-won in the 8th inning?
▶The coach asked if I wanted to throw more or come down. To be honest, I wasn’t confident, but (Han) Seung-taek told me to believe in him and throw because he was good at the ball. Seung-taek believed and told the coach that he would throw more.
-SSG was also on a 5-game winning streak recently, and they struck out 10 today. The secret to attack.
▶First of all, I was in good shape, and I was able to throw wherever I wanted. In the 7th and 8th episodes, my strength dropped a little, but I adjusted my stamina and various things while adjusting the pace and speed.
– Your confrontation with Kim Gwang-hyun received a lot of attention. 토토사이트
▶As I said before, I play against the opponent batter. Today’s rotations overlapped, but in fact, I don’t think there will be a head-to-head match in the future. It would be burdensome for me and Gwanghyeon to meet each other. That’s why I don’t want to fight like this. I want to win, and I hope Gwanghyeon wins too. Since high school, there is always a story about rivals, but now that we are older and younger players are coming up, I think of them as partners who have played baseball together for a long time rather than rivals. Like Gwanghyeon and I, I hope that we can continue to work hard without getting sick.