He delivered his first three-up, three-down pitching of the season. KIA Tigers closer Jeong Hae-young announced the beginning of his revival.

On the 8th, Jeong Hae-young, in a game against the Lotte Giants at the Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium, came on in the 9th inning, leading 5-4, and handled three batters cleanly to secure the team's victory. He earned his third save of the season.

Three consecutive saves. However, the most significant achievement is that he created his first three-up, three-down inning of the season. His early-season performance was not great. He made his first appearance on March 23 against NC, recording one inning with one hit and two strikeouts without allowing any runs. He came on the mound in a situation where they were losing 3-5, so he didn't earn any records for wins, losses, or saves.

However, on the 27th against Kiwoom, he allowed two hits, two walks, and three earned runs in one inning, resulting in both a blown save and a loss. He came on in a situation where they were leading 3-2 but issued two consecutive walks after one out, then gave up a two-RBI double to Choi Joo-hwan and a game-tying single to Jeon Tae-hyun, directly contributing to the team's 3-5 loss. He found his stability afterward and recorded saves, but the process was not clean. On March 30 against Hanwha, he recorded one inning with one hit and no runs. He allowed a hit to lead-off hitter Shim Woo-jun but regained composure by turning Huang Young-muk into a double play. In a game against Samsung three days later, he allowed the lead-off hitter Diaz to reach due to a shortstop error, then gave up a timely two-base hit, changing the score from 3-0 to 3-1. He also hit Park Byung-ho with a pitch, which amplified the crisis, but struck out Kim Sung-yoon and turned Ryu Ji-hyeok into a ground ball to shortstop, regaining composure.

KIA came down to Busan after suffering two consecutive losses in an away game against LG in Jamsil. The game against Lotte on the 8th also didn't start easily, as they trailed 0-2. However, in the 6th inning, they made a comeback with a focused three-run big inning. Still, in the bottom of the 7th, Jo Sang-woo gave up one run, tying the game at 3-3. In the top of the 8th, Byun Woo-hyuk's go-ahead hit and Kim Tae-goon's timely hit gave them a 5-3 lead, but in the bottom of the 8th, Jeon Sang-hyun allowed a run, making the game uncertain.

In such an atmosphere, they faced the bottom of the 9th inning. Jeong Hae-young nervously started by throwing three consecutive balls to lead-off hitter Hwang Seong-bin. However, he calmly threw strikes, leading to a full count, and after a seven-pitch battle, he retired him with a fly ball to center field. Against the next batter Jeong Hoon, he induced swings and misses on the first and second pitches. However, Jeong Hoon stubbornly managed to foul off and forced the count to nine pitches, eventually inducing a swing and miss strikeout with a 133 km slider.

He faced the hottest player of the day, Reyes, with two outs. Jeong Hae-young powered through. He threw a 147 km fastball for the first pitch and established a 1 ball, 2 strikes count with a slider. On the fourth pitch, he threw a 151 km fastball, inducing Reyes to swing and miss. This was the moment he completed his first three-up, three-down save of the season. After the game, Jeong Hae-young said, “It seems that breaking the losing streak and the players' collective desire to win made today's victory possible. It was a challenging situation due to early injuries, but I think we achieved today's win because the desire to win was strong even in such circumstances.” He stated, “Before the game, the players talked about thinking of the team rather than their individual plays, and we entered the game with this mindset,” conveying that this victory was made together with his teammates.

Regarding his appearance that day, he said, “I faced the 1-3 hitters of the lineup, and since we were winning by only one run, I pitched carefully to avoid any mistakes. I concentrated on the mindset that I should not allow any baserunners, and as a result, I was able to finish off three batters without allowing anyone on base.” He also committed to, “I will prepare well for future games and ensure that the players work well together to create winning games.”

Defending champion KIA is struggling with their bullpen this year. The bullpen's earned run average is 7.38, the worst in the league. In the game against Lotte that day, key relievers Jo Sang-woo and Jeon Sang-hyun allowed runs, continuing the team's unstable performance. However, with the closer Jeong Hae-young returning to form, there is hope for stabilization in the bullpen.

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