Source: LG Twins

Source: LG Twins

Key Stories

- Owen White bounced back from his last outing of allowing 5ER 9H in 5IP to Kiwoom to twirl a gem. After only allowing 1 hit after four innings, he ended his impressive day with 7IP, allowing 1R on 4H and striking out 5. On the other side, Tigers ace Adam Oller was denied his 10th win of the season by allowing 4 runs in his 5 innings of work, highlighted by a 3-run home run by Sim Woo-Jun in the 2nd.

- After brief showers earlier in the day, crews managed to prepare Jamsil Stadium for the game and it started as planned. Anders Tolhurst competed 3 scoreless innings, and Riley Thompson managed 2.2 perfect innings before the rain started again, this time to the extreme. In describing the downpour, Chosun reporter Na Yoo-ri said “the downpour was so intense that spectators could not see ahead, and screams echoed from the stands. The rain’s force was so strong that the infield turned into a pool of water in moments. Workers had to retreat after attempting to lay waterproof sheets, as massive puddles had already formed across the infield.” The game was declared a declared a no-game, and both teams have to deal with wasting their aces.

- The downpour from last night in Suwon has struck once more. Shortly after 16:40 KST, the game was cancelled due to poor field conditions, which is the 5th game this season that the Wiz have had a game cancelled or postponed due to rain. Game supervisor Kim Si-Jin cited the reason being “…if we continue the game here, there is concern about serious injuries to players.” Heavy rain from the previous day had turned the newly-laid soil on the infield into a muddy mess. Doosan manager said after yesterday’s game that the “infield conditions were so poor that we could not send running sign,” causing a criticism that the game should not have been resumed. Inclement weather across the region puts tomorrow’s game into question, too. Should it go ahead, however, today’s pitchers will be moved to then.

- Pedro Avila decided he didn’t want to listen to those who doubted the capabilities of Landers pitchers. Taking a no-hitter into the 4th, he’d only allowed 1 hit after 5 innings. Although he allowed 3 runs in the 6th, he was allowed to finish the inning and limited the damage, and kept SSG leading 7-3. From then on, the bullpen locked it down and completed the last 3 innings, allowing only 1 hit between the three different relievers. As an extra bonus, fans saw Blai Madrid hit his first KBO home run in only his second game after he joined as a replacement for the injured Guillermo Heredia.

- In Choi Hyeong-woo’s 2400th game, good for third on the all-time list, Samsung struggled to create any offence. In their biggest opportunity, they load the bases with no outs in the 7th, but Heroes reliever Yuto Kanakubo only took 6 pitches to get out of it, as he got Kim Seong-yoon to ground into a double play, and struck out Koo Ja-wook swinging on a high fastball to allow only 1 run to score, which turned out to be their only run of the night. Kiwoom struggled, too, but managed to capitalise on some Lions mistakes in the fifth and plate 3 runs. Starting pitcher Raul Alcantara also exited the game with a right elbow injury of his own omission, after signalling to the dugout of his discomfort following an errant pitch that hit Lee Jae-hyun.

2 rainouts, a shock defeat of top to bottom, and some pitching masterclasses headlined last nights action. Tonight promises more of the same, providing we actually get all five games. Let’s take a look at the card.

(6) Hanwha Eagles v (4) Kia Tigers

Probable Starting Pitchers
HAN: Wang Yan-cheng
KIA: Keisho Shirakawa

The Story
With their win last night, coupled with an NC Dinos rainout, Hanwha regained their 6th spot in the standings. Now that they’ve snapped a 4-game losing streak, the Eagles will hope they can start a run of form. Their starter Yang-cheng struggled mightily in his last start against lowly Kiwoom, walking more batters and allowing more home runs (3 and 2, respectively) than he had strikeouts (1). But he’ll see these tigers in a den they can’t protect, as Kia’s winning percentage at home is only .381, good for second-last in the league. Tigers starter Shirakawa has struggled with control over his last 2 starts, walking more batters (7) than he’s struck out (6). He hasn’t walked less than 3 batters in an outing since June 16th. The Eagles are 5th in the league in both walks and on-base percentage this season, so they will look to capitalise.

(7) NC Dinos v (3) LG Twins

*Chance of rainout*

Probable Starting Pitchers
NC: Curtis Taylor
LG: Lachlan Wells

The Story
If permissible by the terrible weather around Seoul, we’ll see another matchup of international pitchers after being denied it last night. Curtis Taylor comes into this one on the back of two consecutive quality starts, allowing only 3 runs combined over those 13.1 innings. It’s also worth mentioned that he’s only given up 4 home runs all season, so he knows how to keep the ball in the yard. Meanwhile, LG starter Wells is sporting an impressive 8.1 K/9 through 16 starts, but he faces a Dinos lineup who has the 3rd best team batting average in the league (.277) and have struck out as a team the second fewest times behind the Lions, so Wells will have to find a different way to win.

(5) Doosan Bears v (2) KT Wiz

*Chance of Rainout*

Probable Starting Pitchers
DOO: Gwak Been
KT: Logan Allen

The Story
After the game was cancelled yesterday due to the poor condition of the infield, this game ruins a similar risk if the game supervisor and grounds crew can’t amend the damage. It’s reported that the starting pitchers will remain the same, so everything I said yesterday still applies. The only difference is that the starters will be going on an extra days rest, so that could factor in. That could mean a lot more for Been as it does for Allen, as in his two previous starts against KT, he’s only allowed 1 run over a cumulative 12 innings, while amassing 18 strikeouts. It’s worth noting, however, that he took a No Decision in both of those games.

(9) SSG Landers v (8) Lotte Giants

Probable Starting Pitchers
SSG: Kim Min-Jun
LOT: Elvin Rodriguez

The Story
SSG showed that they can silence the doubters when they need to with last nights win, as Pedro Avila twirled a gem to snap the Landers’ 4-game skid. Tonight, it is their 6th overall pick in this year’s draft who has to do the same. Min-jun has struggled so far this season, holding a 5.61 ERA, and only pitching into the 6th inning in one of his six starts. He’ll be eager to show his new team why they drafted him in the first place. Meanwhile, Rodriguez has only won 2 of his last 12 decisions, with 5 losses and 5 no-decisions. He excels at striking batters out, but it comes at a cost. He may rank third in the league in strikeouts, but of the 20 pitchers with 90+ IP this season, he ranks 18th in ERA.

(1) Samsung Lions v (10) Kiwoom Heroes

Probable Starting Pitchers
SAM: Yang Chang-seop
KIW: Ha Yeong-min

The Story
You would think the Lions knew they would lose last night after seeing who they’re sending to the mound for the rubber match of this series. 26-yr-old Chang-seop is a remarkable 8-0 this season, and comes into this one on a run of 4 straight winning decisions. He’s been exceptional at times, highlighted by his start against Lotte in May where he was one Jang Du-seong single away from a Perfect Game. The Heroes counter with 10-year veteran Ha Yeong-min. The 31 year old struggled against the Lions in his last game, lasting only 4.2 innings, but Kiwoom have found their bats in the last 5 games, and would love to reward their 2014 4th overall pick with some run support. They should also take comfort in the fact that they’ve really brought it to Samsung in this series, and could easily be coming into this game looking at a sweep.

Which game are you most looking forward to? Will there be any surprises on the card tonight?