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The 8th and gave nine hits and one walk in two innings and allowed eight runs (six earned runs).

Rain saved Yang Hyun-jong, who was on the verge of defeat. Heavy rain poured during KIA's attack in the bottom of the second inning, and the referees waited for 55 minutes and declared a no-game.

Yang Hyun-jong, who almost ruined an important match at a time when the team put its life and death on the leap to the upper middle, took a breather.

Yang Hyun-jong has not been able to add a multiplier for more than a month in three appearances since he won his fifth win (6 losses) of the season with one run in five innings against the SSG Landers on the 6th of last month.

He lost two consecutive games with three runs (two earned runs) in five innings against the Samsung Lions, his last appearance in the first half, and four runs in 5⅔ innings against the NC Dinos, his first appearance in the second half.

In the game against Samsung on the 2nd of this month, he stepped down without winning or losing with three runs in five innings.

Yang Hyun-jong, who has been a pillar of the KIA mound for more than a decade, has already reached his mid-30s. It has become a situation where we cannot help but worry about the aging curve (a phenomenon in which our skills decline with age).

Yang Hyun-jong focused his efforts on change by honing a "slow fastball" that reduces the speed even with the same four-seam fastball so that the batter mistook it as a changeup.

However, as we entered June, the middle of the season, we often lost a lot of points due to a drop in ball power.

As he struggled against batters, the number of innings pitched naturally decreased. Yang Hyun-jong's last game against KT Wiz on June 24 was the last time he kept the mound for six innings, the minimum share of the starting pitcher.

Yang Hyun-jong's most affectionate past 170 innings for the ninth consecutive year also faced difficulties.

Yang Hyun-jong was a "inning player" who threw more than 170 innings annually from 2014 to last year, but this year, he pitched only 101 innings in 18 games.

Assuming that Yang Hyun-jong will take the mound 11 to 12 more times this year, it is difficult to reach 170 innings even if he throws an average of six innings.

In addition, at the current trend, it is too much to expect a double-digit multiplier for nine consecutive years.

KIA replaced two foreign starting pitchers at the end of the first half and reorganized the starting lineup with Thomas Panoni, Mario Sanchez, Yang Hyun-jong, Lee Ui-ri, and Yoon Young-chul. In other words, he has made a winning move for autumn baseball.

Sanchez, who dominated the first half of Taiwanese professional baseball and wore a KIA uniform, was shaken greatly after being pointed out for his double kick and unique first baseman check movements when pitching, and was beaten in the last three games.

Panoni's skills, which experienced the KBO League last year, have been verified, but the entire starting lineup seems to be reeling as third starter Yang Hyun-jong falters.

Now, it is hard to expect better results from Lee Eui-ri, a full-time second-year starter, and Yoon Young-chul, a freshman.

In the end, as always, KIA's competitiveness will be revived only when Yang Hyun-jong takes the center of gravity of the starting lineup and Sanchez recovers his early pressure by developing his KBO League adaptability.

KIA's fall depends on the revival of Yang Hyun-jong, who is the third starter but weighs no less than the first starter.