You would understand if the Kia Tigers looked rusty in their Korean Series opener against the Samsung Lions. The winner of the regular season’s top overall seed, the Tigers had a 22-day layoff from the last day of the regular season to their first postseason game. Then, they had to wait two additional days after rain postponed the first two attempts at the series opener. Yet when the weather finally cleared up, the Tigers looked exactly like the 87-win juggernaut their fans had come to expect, taking the first two contests by a combined 13-4 margin.
While many players had a hand in the victories, the two most significant contributors came from players nearly 20 years apart in age. Star third baseman Kim Do-yeong hit the series’ only home run so far with a solo shot in the second inning of Game Two, continuing what has already been a storybook season for the 21-year-old. After two solid but unspectacular seasons to begin his KBO career, Kim ascended into arguably the best player in the league. He finished third in the league with a .347 batting average while flirting with a historic 40 home-run/40 stolen-base season. Though he ultimately came up two homers short, the young superstar helped power a 14-win improvement for the Tigers in 2024 and proved again on Wednesday that no moment is too big for him.
김도영 한국 시리즈 첫 홈런!!!!!! 🥹🥹🥹 pic.twitter.com/yTQ4CfswDp
— 규⚾︎i (@5KIA48) October 23, 2024
While Kim is experiencing his first taste of KBO postseason action, Yang Hyeon-jong is one of the most experienced playoff performers in the league’s history. With the exception of a 2021 season spent with the Texas Rangers, Yang has been a rotation anchor for the Tigers since being selected with the first pick of the 2007 draft. The 40-year-old left-hander has raked up 179 career wins and a record 2076 strikeouts over his 17-year career while being the model of consistency with nine consecutive seasons of at least 29 regular season starts. His most important start, however, came in postseason play, as he earned Korean Series MVP in 2017 with a complete game shutout in Game 2 against the Doosan Bears.
As they did seven years earlier, the Tigers handed the ball to Yang in Game 2 of the Korean Series, and the lefty once against proved up to the task. Though the Lions generated plenty of traffic with eight hits and two walks, Yang displayed the composure of a seasoned veteran and navigated 5.1 innings by giving up just one earned run.
삼진 잡고 포효하는 양현종이 좋다고 말해 pic.twitter.com/9m9mB17Xa7
— 뮤…. (@mxxyxxuu13) October 23, 2024
The best-of-seven series will shift to Daegu Samsung Lions Park for the next two games, and the Tigers will face their toughest task against the Lions’ Denyi Reyes. An 11-game winner during the regular season, Reyes took his game to a new level in the second-round matchup against the LG Twins, allowing just one earned run over 13.2 innings to claim Series MVP. The Tigers will counter with veteran left-hander Eric Lauer, who posted a 4.93 ERA in seven starts after signing with the team in August. The first pitch of Game Three will be Friday at 5:30 a.m. EST.
Rest Of Series Schedule
All Times Eastern (EST)
Game Three: Friday, October 25, 5:30 a.m.
Game Four: Saturday, October 26, 1:00 a.m.
Game Five: Monday, October 28, 5:30 a.m. (If necessary)
Game Six: Tuesday, October 29, 5:30 a.m. (If necessary)
Game Seven: Wednesday, October 30, 5:30 a.m. (If necessary)
_____
WBN KBO: https://worldbaseball.com/league/south-korea/
