Top regular-season pitcher to duel postseason ace in winner-take-all game

The best starting pitcher from the regular season and the best starting pitcher in the ongoing postseason will take the mound for their respective teams in the winner-take-all playoff contest Friday night. The Hanwha Eagles will host the Samsung Lions in Game 5 of their best-of-five Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason series at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon. Their series is tied up at two games apiece, and the winner on Friday will go on to play the LG Twins in the best-of-seven Korean Series, which starts at 2 p.m. Sunday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. The Eagles, seeking their first trip to the Korean Series since 2006, will start right-hander Cody Ponce. The Lions, a win away from reaching their second straight Korean Series, will counter with right-hander Choi Won-tae. Ponce is a strong regular-season MVP candidate after winning the Triple Crown as the league leader in wins (17), ERA (1.89) and strikeouts (252). However, the American pitcher had a rocky KBO postseason debut last Saturday, when he allowed six runs -- oneWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times