CPBL: Dragons' Hou Jin's first inning control falters, narrowly misses ignominious record

Taiwanese baseball's Wei Chuan Dragons' foreign pitcher Hou Jin experienced a difficult start to his game against the CTBC Brothers on July 21, 2026. Pitching at home in Taichung, Hou Jin, who has a respectable career ERA of 2.62 against the Brothers, lost control in the very first inning. He issued a total of five walks, bringing him just one walk shy of the league's single-inning record.

The control issues began after the first batter, Zhang Renwei, singled, and Yue Zhenghua successfully bunted. Hou Jin then struck out Wang Weichen for two outs. However, the situation unraveled as he proceeded to walk four consecutive batters: Zhan Zixian, Zeng Songen, Jiang Kunyu, and Huang Weisheng. This was followed by another walk to Zhang Shilun. During this tumultuous inning, catcher Gao Yujie managed to hit a single, which, combined with a fielding error by the Dragons, resulted in two runs scoring. In total, Hou Jin allowed four runs in the first inning due to his control problems.

The league record for most walks in a single inning is six, set by Huang Guangqi of the Uni-President Lions in 1993. Hou Jin's five walks place him second on that all-time list, tied with several other pitchers, and marks a personal high for him in a single inning. The game's outcome and further details of Hou Jin's performance were not immediately available.