Samsung hosts KT in Game 3 of the Korean Series on Friday at 4:30 a.m. ET (6:30 p.m. KST) at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, with the best-of-seven tied 1-1.
Samsung evened it Wednesday with a 3-2 win in 12 innings, scoring the winner on a throwing error by KT second baseman Oh Yoon-suk. Lewin Díaz went 4-for-6 and scored from second on the play.
How to Watch
Free worldwide outside South Korea: SOOP — kbo.sooplive.com or the SOOP app. No subscription, Korean-language broadcast, English site.
In South Korea: TVING. Korea JoongAng Daily runs live English coverage from 5:30 p.m. KST.
Live box scores: mykbostats.com
No U.S. network is carrying the series. Full schedule and every U.S. start time.
Jurado vs. So Hyeong-jun
Samsung: Ariel Jurado, RHP. The Panamanian was MVP of the playoff round against KIA, going 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA, including seven innings of one-run ball in the Game 5 clincher on Nov. 1. This is his first appearance of the Korean Series.
KT: So Hyeong-jun, RHP. A 10-game winner this season who has been better in October than any other month of his career — a 1.48 career postseason ERA.
Samsung has now used Won-tae Choi, Chris Paddack and Jurado. KT has used Davis Daniel, Young-pyo Go and So, with Logan Allen going Saturday.
The Bullpen Edge Flipped
KT was supposed to have the advantage here. The Wiz had All-Star closer Park Yeong-hyun, third in the KBO with 30 saves, and three weeks of rest. Samsung lost its own All-Star closer, Kim Jae-yoon — the league leader with 35 saves — to an upper-body injury in October, then played five games against KIA to get here.
It hasn’t worked out that way.
Through two games, KT’s bullpen has a 5.63 ERA. Remove Park’s 3 1/3 scoreless innings and the rest of the group is at 9.64. Park has needed five outs in each of the two games. Manager Kang-chul Lee has trusted only one other reliever, submarine pitcher Kim Jeong-woon, with multiple innings. Setup man Son Dong-hyun has been pulled mid-at-bat twice.
Samsung’s bullpen has a 2.45 ERA across 11 innings, with six of eight relievers yet to allow an earned run. Left-hander Lee Seung-min pitched in all five games against KIA and threw 1 1/3 scoreless Wednesday.
Without Kim Jae-yoon, manager Park Jin-man has used ace Won Tae-in as an all-purpose arm — 3 2/3 innings in the KIA series and 1 2/3 on Wednesday. He’s expected back in the rotation for Game 4 or Game 5.
And 20-year-old left-hander Bae Chan-seung has thrown a scoreless inning in both games, striking out two around a walk in the 12th on Wednesday for his first career postseason save.
Logan Allen Goes Back to the Rotation
KT moved its left-handed starter to the bullpen for Game 1, looking for someone to handle Samsung’s left-handed bats. It lasted one game: Allen gave up two runs on two hits and retired one of the three batters he faced. He starts Game 4 on Saturday.
KT’s Injured Veterans
Three Wiz players were hurt in Game 1.
Kim Hyun-soo, last year’s Korean Series MVP, bent his left thumb making a sliding play at first base in the seventh. He’d injured the same spot late in the regular season. He refused a hospital exam — “If the results say it’s bad, I’ll be too anxious to play” — and started Game 2 at first, going 1-for-5 with an RBI and a walk while still in pain.
Kim Sang-soo took a foul ball off the heel in his last at-bat and sat out Game 2 entirely, unavailable even to pinch-hit. His replacement, Ryu Hyun-in, went hitless in three at-bats in his first Korean Series.
Kim Min-hyuk doubled and drove in a run in Game 1 before hurting his hip. He played Game 2 and went 0-for-4 with two failed bunt attempts.
What’s at Stake
Samsung is chasing its ninth championship and first since 2014. KT is after its second, having won in 2021.
Teams that win Game 3 of a series tied 1-1 have gone on to take the series 16 times in 18 tries.
Captain Ja-wook Koo homered in Game 1 — his first Korean Series since 2015, when he was a rookie.
Remaining Schedule
Game 4 — Saturday, Nov. 7, 12:00 a.m. ET, Daegu — Logan Allen starts for KT
Game 5* — Sunday, Nov. 8, 12:00 a.m. ET, Daegu
Game 6* — Tuesday, Nov. 10, 4:30 a.m. ET, Suwon
Game 7* — Wednesday, Nov. 11, 4:30 a.m. ET, Suwon
*if necessary
Games 4 and 5 start at 2 p.m. local — midnight Eastern, meaning Friday night and Saturday night on your clock. Three games in three days after Friday makes this a bullpen war.
Sources: Yonhap, Chosun Ilbo/OSEN, Korea JoongAng Daily, MyKBOStats, SOOP.
