Seoul rivals set for clash at start of KBO postseason
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, Oct. 31 (Yonhap) -- The start of the South Korean baseball postseason on Sunday will feature a battle of two evenly matched clubs based in the nation's capital.
The LG Twins will host the Kiwoom Heroes for the first of possibly two Wild Card games in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason on Sunday. The first pitch is 2 p.m. at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.
The Twins finished fourth in the regular season at 79-61-4 (wins-losses-ties), and the Heroes took the fifth spot at 80-63-1. Though the Heroes had more wins, they trailed the Twins in winning percentage, .564 to .559.
The winning percentage in the KBO is reached by dividing wins by the sum of wins and losses, with ties not coming into the equation.
The Twins only need a win or a tie on Sunday to advance to the next stage. If they drop that game, they'll immediately get another chance on Monday, also at Jamsil, for a win or a tie necessary to advance.
The Heroes, on the other hand, must win two straight games to move on to the next round.
Since the Wild Card system was introduced in 2015, no fifth-place team has made it past this stage. Only the 2016 Kia Tigers managed to even win a game as the lower seed.
The Heroes will try to buck the trend. They won the season series over the Twins 10-6 and outscored them 73-64, while hitting 16 home runs to the Twins' 12.
For the season overall, the Twins were a slightly better offensive club, while the Heroes held a slim edge in pitching. Based on fielding metrics, they were also among the best defensive clubs.
Both teams had some ups and downs. They each threatened to overtake the NC Dinos for first place, coming within decimal points in winning percentage at one point in the second half, only to fall back again and watch the Dinos claim the regular season crown.
The Heroes went through a controversial managerial change, as first-year skipper Son Hyuk resigned with 12 games left in the season. Former quality control coach Kim Chang-hyun is the interim boss. They were in third place when Son quit -- though the general belief around the league is he was dismissed by upper management -- and they went 7-5-0 the rest of the way to end up in fifth place.
Though the Twins had the second-best record in October at 13-9-1, they lost their final two games to drop from second to fourth place. The Heroes split their 18 games in October, and losing to the Doosan Bears 2-0 in their season finale on Friday kept them from moving up any further.
Against this setting, the Twins couldn't have asked for a better pitcher to start this potential one-and-done game, as right-hander Casey Kelly will take the mound.
He went 15-7 with a 3.32 ERA for the year and was one of the league's top starters in the second half, with a 11-1 record and a 2.22 ERA.
Kelly was 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA in three starts against the Heroes during the regular season. He had 18 strikeouts against six walks in 19 innings versus the Heroes. He served up just one home run, to Park Jun-tae on Sept. 10. No Kiwoom batter managed more than two hits off Kelly.
The Heroes already burned their top starter, Eric Joksich, on Friday versus the Bears. They lost that game, and right-hander Jake Brigham is now lined up to start Sunday. Interim manager Kim Chang-hyun said before Friday's game that, in an all-hands-on-deck strategy, every pitcher except Brigham was available to take the mound that day.
Slowed by injuries all year, Brigham went 9-5 in 21 starts with a 3.62 ERA. He pitched to a 5.74 ERA in three starts against the Twins, going 1-2 in those games.
LG slugger Robert Ramos homered once off Brigham this year, and outfielder Kim Hyun-soo went 3-for-8 with two RBIs and two runs scored against the right-hander.
Kelly pitched at least six innings in 14 straight starts dating back to July 31 and allowed more than three runs on just two occasions.
Brigham wasn't nearly as consistent but finished strong, giving up just one run in 13 innings across his final two full starts. On Oct. 23, Brigham pitched just one inning as an opener of sort against the Bears.
The Heroes and the Twins ranked first and second in bullpen ERAs. But while the Heroes ran their relievers into the ground, as they threw a league-high 574 innings, the Twins received a league-low 495 2/3 innings from their bullpen.
If they build a lead through five or six innings, the Heroes can bring in some lively arms to protect that cushion. Setup man An Woo-jin and closer Cho Sang-woo are two of the hardest throwers in the KBO.
The Twins' closer Go Woo-suk is no slouch, either, and the reigning Rookie of the Year Jung Woo-young has continued to thrive in the setup role.
On offense, Kim Hyun-soo led the Twins with a .331 batting average and 119 RBIs. Ramos launched a team-best 38 home runs in his first KBO season. Sleek-fielding shortstop Oh Ji-hwan batted .300 for the first time in his career and matched his personal high with 41 doubles.
The Heroes have the league's best offensive shortstop with Kim Ha-seong, who put up a .306 average, 30 homers and 109 RBIs. Formerly light-hitting outfielder Lee Jung-hoo enjoyed a power surge this year, setting a league record with 49 doubles and shattering career highs with 15 homers and 101 RBIs.
jeeho@yna.co.kr
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