2 best regular-season teams to duel for Korean baseball supremacy

Kia Tigers players and coaches celebrate winning the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular-season title at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, Sept. 25. Yonhap

The top two teams from the regular season in Korean baseball will clash in the championship series starting Monday, with one team seeking to maintain its perfect record and the other pursuing its first title in 10 years.

The top-seeded Kia Tigers will host No. 2 seed Samsung Lions in Game 1 of the Korean Series at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 270 kilometers south of Seoul.

The Tigers earned a bye to the Korean Series, after cruising to the best record in the regular season at 87-55-2 (wins-losses-ties), and they will enjoy the home field advantage. They will host the first two games and then the final three games, if the series goes that far.

The Lions finished nine games behind the Tigers in the regular season at 78-64-2. They had a bye to the second round, and knocked off the defending champions LG Twins in four games. They won the clinching game by 1-0 Saturday.

The Tigers have gone a perfect 11-for-11 in Korean Series, and no team has won more championships in Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) history. Their most recent title came in 2017.

The Lions have won seven Korean Series titles, the last one coming in 2014. They also won the league title in 1985 but the KBO decided not to hold the Korean Series that year and simply awarded the Lions the championship after they posted the best record in both the first half and the second half of the season. During that era, the Korean Series featured the best teams from each half of the season.

Three of the Tigers' titles came at the expense of the Lions: 1986, 1987 and 1993. This is the first Korean Series meeting — and their first postseason meeting, period — since 1993.

During this past regular season, the Tigers beat the Lions 12 times in their 16 meetings. The 4-12 mark was the worst record for the Lions against any opponent this year.

In those 16 games, the Tigers outscored the Lions 107-79. For the season, the Lions were the best home run-hitting team with 185, 22 more than the Tigers. But in their head-to-head games, the Tigers outhomered the Lions 25-20.

Samsung Lions players celebrate after clinching a spot in the Korean Series with their 1-0 win over LG Twins in Game 4 of the second round in the KBO postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa District, Seoul, Oct. 19. Yonhap

There is no shortage of star power on either side. The Tigers feature the leading MVP candidate Kim Do-yeong, a 21-year-old sensation who hammered 38 home runs and stole 40 bases — falling two homers shy of just the second 40-40 season in KBO history. On the mound, first-year American pitcher James Naile led the KBO with a 2.53 ERA, though his season was cut short in late August when he was struck in the face by a line drive.

Naile has recovered from a broken jaw and will be ready to pitch in the Korean Series.

The Lions may be without their captain and best offensive player, Koo Ja-wook, who hurt his left knee trying to steal second base in Game 2 of the Twins series last Tuesday. He will be available to pinch hit early in the Korean Series but he isn't yet able to run at full speed.

The Lions' homegrown ace Won Tae-in tied for the league lead with 15 wins and led all Korean pitchers with a 3.66 ERA.

In head-to-head meetings, Kim was responsible for five of the Tigers' 25 homers. Another slugger, Na Sung-bum, had four homers and a team-high 14 RBIs. Veteran designated hitter Choi Hyoung-woo had four homers and 13 RBIs against the Lions, his former team.

For the Lions, designated hitter Park Byung-ho had the best numbers against the Tigers with five homers and 13 RBIs. Koo's replacement in left field, Kim Hun-gon, batted .404/.429/.660 against the Lions with three homers.

Of the 12 wins by the Tigers, starting pitchers were responsible for only three of them, and one of those starters, Wil Crowe, is no longer on the team. Veteran left-hander Yang Hyeon-jong made five starts and got five no-decisions, while posting a 5.13 ERA over 26 1/3 innings.

Lions ace Denyi Reyes, the MVP of the previous series, went 0-2 with an 8.31 ERA in three starts versus the Tigers.

Because the Tigers earned the bye to the Korean Series, they haven't played since their regular-season finale on Sept. 30. The Lions had 14 days off between the end of their regular season and the start of the postseason.

And their series against the Twins was played every other day, due to two rainouts. Their four games were spread out over seven days. (Yonhap)