Homegrown starters set to duel in Game 2 of Korean Series

▲ In this file photo from Oct. 30, 2021, KT Wiz starter So Hyeong-jun pitches against the SSG Landers in the bottom of the first inning of a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul. (Yonhap)

▲ In this file photo from Nov. 9, 2021, Choi Won-joon of the Doosan Bears pitches against the Samsung Lions during the bottom of the first inning of Game 1 in the first round of the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)

Korean Series-Game 2 starters

Homegrown starters set to duel in Game 2 of Korean Series

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Yonhap) -- Sophomore starter So Hyeong-jun will try to give the KT Wiz a 2-0 lead over the Doosan Bears in the Korean Series when the South Korean baseball championship final continues on Monday.

The Wiz drew first blood on Sunday with a 4-2 victory at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. They will now send the starter who had the best numbers against the Bears during the regular season.

So was 7-7 with a 4.16 ERA in the regular season, but went 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA in three starts against the Bears.

So, the 2020 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) Rookie of the Year, allowed 20 hits in 18 innings against the Bears, though none of them left yard. Designated hitter Jose Miguel Fernandez had four of them in seven at-bats. Cleanup Kim Jae-hwan went 3-for-7. Light-hitting second baseman Kang Seung-ho was 2-for-4 with a double, the lone extra-base hit by Doosan against So.

The Bears will counter with right-hander Choi Won-joon, who will be making his third start of this postseason. He has given up two earned runs in 9 1/3 innings in the two earlier outings.

He had a 1-1 record and a 3.97 ERA in two regular season starts versus the Wiz, while striking out 11 in 11 1/3 innings.

Bae Jung-dae hit 3-for-5 with a triple against Choi, and three different regulars had two hits apiece off Choi.

Bae hit a solo home run in the seventh inning of Sunday's victory to break a 1-1 tie. The Wiz added two more runs in that inning for the win.

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