Right-handers going toe-to-toe in pivotal KBO postseason game

SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- With their best-of-five series in the South Korean baseball postseason tied at one game apiece, the Samsung Lions and the Kia Tigers will each start a right-hander with something to prove.

The two clubs split the first two games of the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason in the southeastern city of Daegu. The Tigers took the first game 5-1 on Monday before the Lions responded with an 8-3 victory the next day at Daegu Samsung Lions Park.

The series will now move to the Tigers' home in Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul, for Games 3 and 4 on Thursday and Friday, both 6:30 p.m. starts.

The home team Tigers will have Japanese right-hander Keisho Shirakawa start the third game, with the Lions countering with Choi Won-tae, also a right-hander.

Shirakawa submitted a strong outing in his KBO postseason debut on Oct. 20 against the LG Twins, holding his opponent to a run on four hits in five innings and striking out nine. His performance was largely forgotten in a 13-1 beatdown by the Tigers that secured a ticket to this round, but manager Lee Bum-ho acknowledged afterward the Japanese pitcher exceeded his expectations.

Shirakawa will now have a chance to prove the earlier outing was not a fluke.

Shirakawa pitched to a 3.68 ERA in three regular-season meetings against the Lions. He struck out 10 but walked 11 in 14 2/3 innings.

Koo Ja-wook had two hits, including a double, in six at-bats against Shirakawa. Backup infielder Jeon Byung-woo hit the Lions' lone homer against Shirakawa.

Choi had a checkered postseason history until last year. He carried an 11.16 ERA in his 18 previous playoff games before tossing six shutout innings against the SSG Landers to open the first round in 2025.

Then in Game 2 of the next series against the Hanwha Eagles, Choi pitched seven innings of one-run ball.

Choi had trouble against the Tigers in three regular-season meetings this year, posting an 8.10 ERA while allowing 17 hits, including two home runs, in 13 1/3 innings.

The Tigers' two biggest power threats, Kim Do-yeong and Harold Castro, each had a home run against Choi. Leadoff man Park Jae-hyun batted 5-for-8 against Choi, with five other Tigers recording at least two hits.

The pressure will be on Choi to prove his two strong outings last year will be the new norm going forward, not the outlier.

The winner of this series will advance to the Korean Series. On the past 16 occasions when this best-of-five round was tied at 1-1, the team that won the third game went on to take the series nine times.