Finally, his first appearance! If the starting order of "well-pitched" KIA's Yang Hyeon-jong and Oler had been reversed... A heartbreaking 4 runs allowed, KIA's baseball season is over [PO5 On-site]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Yang Hyeon-jong, the "living legend of the KIA Tigers," displayed a seasoned pitching performance in his first appearance of this fall baseball season.

On the afternoon of the 1st, KIA lost 1-6 to the Samsung Lions in Game 5 of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Postseason Playoffs held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park.

With this defeat, KIA fell behind in the series with a record of two wins and three losses, ultimately failing to advance to the Korea Series.

The painful aspect of the day was that starting pitcher Adam Oler collapsed, allowing six hits and four runs over two innings.

And the pitcher who took the mound following Oler was none other than Yang Hyeon-jong.

It was also Yang Hyeon-jong's first appearance in this fall baseball season.

Taking the mound in the third inning, Yang Hyeon-jong appeared to waver as he allowed consecutive hits to leadoff batter Choi Hyung-woo and follow-up hitter Kim Young-woong. However, he showcased a veteran's composure by getting Ryu Ji-hyuk, Kang Min-ho, and Lee Jae-hyun all out on infield grounders.

Yang Hyeon-jong then retired the side in order in the fourth inning. In the fifth inning as well, he handled the batting order of Diaz, Choi Hyung-woo, and Kim Young-woong with routine outs, demonstrating his effectiveness.

Taking the mound again in the sixth inning, Yang Hyeon-jong surrendered a single to center field off Ryu Ji-hyuk. With Kang Min-ho's sacrifice bunt making it one out and a runner on second base, Lee Jae-hyun was caught by a fly ball to right field for the second out. Subsequently, he gave up a left-field go-ahead triple to Kim Ji-chan and a left-field RBI single to Park Seung-gyu, recording two runs allowed. That was as far as it went. Yang Hyeon-jong handed the mound over to Gwak Do-gyu.

Although he did allow runs, Yang Hyeon-jong threw his pitches with his utmost effort.

Before the game, KIA Manager Lee Beom-ho said regarding Yang Hyeon-jong, "If it goes beyond five innings, I think it would be best if (Yang) Hyeon-jong does not pitch. Hyeon-jong has not pitched much from the middle of the game. It is true that he has rested for a long time, but there are other aspects we need to consider, so I am unsure. (If Oler goes beyond five innings) I feel it would be better for pitchers with more bullpen experience to go out, but I do not know. I cannot guarantee what will happen since I do not know what situation will arise, but today as well, we will utilize our players to the maximum and proceed in a direction that allows us to win the game."

In hindsight, there is a lingering regret about whether it would have been different if Yang Hyeon-jong had started first, stretched out the innings a bit longer, and then Oler had briefly closed things out for one or two innings with his power.

Nevertheless, Yang Hyeon-jong took the mound for the first time in KIA's final fall baseball game of this year, delivering a meaningful pitching performance in front of KIA fans.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original