In the history of the Korean Series (KS), with the best-of-seven series tied at 1-1, the team that wins Game 3 has an 88.2% chance of winning the title (15 out of 17 times).
LG Twins’ Im Chan-kyu and KT Wiz’s Benjamin Benjamin will be the starting pitchers in Game 3 of the KS on Tuesday at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, looking to capture that high probability.
It will be an emotional first KS start for Im Chan-kyu, who was born Elin (エルジ+子). “I remember LG’s last KS 21 years ago in detail,” said Lim, who was drafted by LG in the second round of the 2011 KBO Draft. “I was an elementary school student at the time, and I remember begging my mom not to go to school.”
After 21 years on the KS stage, LG is challenging to reach the top after 29 years. “Just by pitching in LG’s KS games, I think I’m a successful ‘dduhoo’ (a person who is passionate about a field),” he smiled brightly.
Lim went 14-3 with a 3.42 ERA this season, helping LG win the regular season title. After starting in the bullpen, he was promoted to the third starter’s role and posted the most wins and lowest ERA in a single season.
Touted as the KBO’s “No. 1” pitcher heading into the season, the second-year Korean starter overcame a rough start to post a 15-6 record with a 3.54 ERA.
When comparing head-to-head and postseason (PS) performance, Benjamin has the edge. In five appearances against LG this year, Benjamin is 4-0 with a 0.84 ERA. While Ko (7.36) and Cuevas (11.45) had previously raised concerns with their struggles against the LG this season, Benjamin’s reign as the “LG killer” has given the team confidence. LG batting coach Lee Ho-joon was tongue-in-cheek when he said, “After analyzing the data, Benjamin hit a great ball in our game.” Benjamin has pitched a total of 32 and one-third innings against LG, with a very low 0.68 runs allowed per inning. His career 5-game ERA in PS is 3.13. 무지개토토 도메인
However, health is a factor. Benjamin pitched in Game 2 of the playoffs (PO) against the NC Dinos on October 31 (5 innings, 3 runs) and Game 5 of the PO on November 5 (5 innings, 2 runs, 1 earned). His pitch counts weren’t high (82 and 83), but the concern is that he was coming off two consecutive days of rest.