American ace, homegrown veteran to duel in KBO postseason game
Kia Tigers starter Adam Oller pitches against the Lotte Giants during the clubs' Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju, Oct. 11. Courtesy of Kia Tigers
GWANGJU — The Kia Tigers will go for their second straight victory in their ongoing South Korean baseball postseason series with their American ace Adam Oller on the hill Sunday.
Their opponent, the LG Twins, will counter with homegrown right-hander Im Chan-kyu.
The Tigers took the first game of the best-of-five first round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason by the score of 5-1 on Saturday, with starter James Naile tossing seven innings of one-run ball and slugger Kim Do-yeong delivering two home runs. Oller will now try to push the Twins to the brink.
Oller finished second in the league with a 3.13 ERA and fourth with 180 strikeouts. This will be Oller's KBO postseason debut.
Oller had a 2-1 record and a 2.40 ERA in five regular-season meetings against the Twins this year. He faced them more than any other opponent. He struck out 31 batters in 30 innings but also surrendered three home runs — one each to Austin Dean, Moon Bo-gyeong and Oh Ji-hwan.
Im tied for the league lead with 15 wins but posted a 4.46 ERA, his worst mark since 2022. He had a 0-1 record and a 6.23 ERA in two meetings versus the Tigers in the regular season — including one in the final regular-season contest on Monday, when he allowed two runs on four hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Im served up two homers in 8 2/3 innings against the Tigers — one to Park Jae-hyun and the other to Na Sung-bum.