KIA looks like the side with the clearer edge in this series finale, mostly because of the pitching matchup. Adam Oller gets the ball for KIA, while LG sends out Anders Tolhurst, who has had a rough time against this opponent this year. LG is also running on empty, having lost seven straight, and the bullpen is part of why.
Tolhurst is 1-3 with a 7.04 ERA against KIA this season, well above his overall number of 4.34. Oller is described as one of the better foreign pitchers in the league. That gap in who is starting matters more to me than the fact that KIA just moved into third.
LG's relief corps is under strain. The closer, Yoo Young-chan, is injured and Son Joo-young has been moved into the role. In the last game, Park Dong-won's homer put LG up 5-3 in the eighth, and the bullpen still could not hold it as KIA scored three in the ninth.
The offence is not helping either. Over its last 10 games LG scored just 3.1 runs a game and won only two of five at home, while KIA put up 26 runs in five away games in that stretch. Both of the last two games in this series were decided by a single run, so I am looking for KIA to get a bit more breathing room this time with the better starter on the mound.
