KIA guardian Jeon Sang-hyun saves 1⅓ innings in two consecutive games

Professional baseball KIA Tigers' last bastion, Jeon Sang-hyun, is raising his stock price in fall baseball.

Jeon Sang-hyun went on the mound in the 8th inning with 2 outs, 1st and 2nd bases, leading 6-3 in the 2nd game of the semi-playoff (semi-PO, 3 wins out of 5) against the LG Twins at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do on the 18th, and earned a save by pitching 1⅓ innings without allowing a run.

Jeon Sang-hyun, who saved 1⅓ innings in Game 1 the previous day, also earned 2 saves and became a strong candidate for MVP of this series. The daily MVP prize money of 1 million won for the second game was also Jeon Sang-hyun's share.

Due to the struggles of Jeong Hae-young and Seong Young-tak, KIA struggled through the final stages of the regular season with a group finish. Meanwhile, Jeon Sang-hyun, who had a total of 30 saves and 124 holds, became the de facto built-in closer.

It was KIA's most trusted card, which was entrusted with 4 outs, rather than the typical situation of 3 outs per inning in a big game.

In particular, it was impressive that he was on the mound in the 8th inning of Game 2, effectively putting an end to KIA's victory.

Facing Lee Jae-won, whom LG manager Yeom Kyeong-yeop expected a big 'one shot' from, Jeon Sang-hyun threw a missed pitch on the first pitch, was hit by a large foul and was heartbroken, and then struck out on a missed swing with a breaking ball and overcame the crisis.

In the 9th inning, he struck out 2 batters and cleaned up the pitch.

Jeon Sang-hyun, who finished three consecutive games against LG on his own, starting with the 3rd place match against LG on the 12th, said after the game, "I wanted to go to Seoul after winning the first and second games, but I am very happy and I will try to finish the third game quickly."

He said, "I'm currently in good physical condition, and the manager trusted me and sent me out, so I feel responsible and am working hard. I focused and threw with the thought that I shouldn't hit Jaewon Lee with a big hit, but I was surprised by the dangerous miss on the first pitch."

Regarding KIA coach Lee Beom-ho's urging for more effort, saying, "If Jeon Sang-hyun blocks well, our players leave the stadium smiling happily," Jeon Sang-hyun responded, "It seems like they're putting more pressure on us," but added, "The coach usually says that in a joking way, but I think I'll just do what I can."

Jeon Sang-hyun expressed his motivation by saying, “I can throw in every game as a semi-PO player,” and added, “Because our hitters are good, I think it will be easier and more comfortable if we score a large number of runs.”