SEOUL, In pursuit of their first South Korean baseball championship in 29 years, the LG Twins will send longtime ace Casey Kelly to begin the Korean Series against the KT Wiz on Tuesday.
The Wiz will have sidearm pitcher Ko Young-pyo on the hill.
In this file photo from Sept. 21, 2023, LG Twins starter Casey Kelly pitches against the SSG Landers during a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, west of Seoul.
The two teams unveiled their Game 1 starters Monday, the eve of the start of the best-of-seven series. The first pitch is 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.
Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb had already announced Kelly as his Game 1 starter last month, while the Twins were gearing up for the Korean Series. As the owner of the best regular season record, the Twins earned a direct ticket to the Korean Series. On Tuesday, they will play for the first time since their final regular season game on Oct. 15.
Kelly went 10-7 with a 3.83 ERA in 30 starts this season, his fifth with the Twins. He overcame a slow start to the season that led to whispers that his days in the KBO were being numbered. After pitching to a 4.44 ERA in 18 starts in the first half, Kelly bounced back with a 2.90 ERA in 12 starts after the All-Star break.
In this file photo from June 23, 2023, LG Twins starter Casey Kelly pitches against the Lotte Giants during a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.
He made four regular season starts against the Wiz and went 1-1 with a 3.96 ERA across 25 innings.
For the Wiz, Kang Baek-ho went 2-for-3 with a home run and a double against Kelly, but Kang is out for the season after suffering an oblique injury while preparing for the second round against the NC Dinos on Oct. 26.
Among those in action for the Wiz, Anthony Alford also homered off Kelly, and Park Byung-ho had a team-high four hits against the American right-hander.
KT Wiz starter Ko Young-pyo celebrates after retiring the side against the NC Dinos in the bottom of the sixth inning of Game 2 in the second round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, on Nov. 2, 2023.
Ko was 12-7 with a 2.78 ERA this season, but that ERA would have been much lower had he not been roughed up by the Twins in four starts. Ko posted a 7.36 ERA — higher than against any opponent this year — after allowing 15 earned runs on 27 hits in only 18 1/3 innings.
Oh Ji-hwan feasted on Ko, batting 5-for-9 with a home run and a double. Four other players recorded at least three hits against Ko.
Ko will try to build on his excellent, season-saving start against the NC Dinos in Game 3 of the previous postseason round last Thursday. Ko pitched six shutout innings and gave up just three hits, as the Wiz won 3-0 to stave off elimination.
Source: Yonhap News Agency