Crafty pitchers to face off in 3rd game of Korean Series

The third game of the South Korean baseball championship series later this week will feature a starting pitching matchup between two crafty hurlers, the two contestants of the series announced Thursday.

The KT Wiz and the Samsung Lions are tied at one game apiece in the best-of-seven Korean Series. After two games at the Wiz's home in Suwon, just south of Seoul, the series will now shift to the Lions' home, Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 230 kilometers southeast of the capital, for the next games.

The Lions will send Ariel Jurado for Game 3, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The Panamanian pitcher was voted the MVP of the previous postseason series against the Kia Tigers, as he went 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA across 13 2/3 innings.

Jurado was at his wily best in those games, throwing a kitchen sink at opposing hitters with his wide array of pitches. Among all qualified starters in the regular season, Jurado had the highest groundball rate with 56.6 percent.

He had some trouble against the Wiz in the regular season, though, with a 5.17 ERA and a 1-1 record in three starts. It was his highest ERA against any opponent this year.

Jurado also surrendered four home runs -- three by cleanup Sam Hilliard, and one by Kim Hyun-soo, who has batted fifth so far in the Korean Series.

The Wiz will start right-hander So Hyeong-jun, who went 10-3 with a 3.15 ERA in the regular season. He had a groundball rate of 56.4 percent by relying on his trusted combination of two-seam fastballs and cutters.

So has been a strong postseason performer, boasting a sparkling 1.48 ERA and a 3-0 record in eight outings covering 30 1/3 innings.

In the regular season, So had a 2-0 record and a 3.71 ERA in three meetings against the Lions. He allowed only 10 home runs all season but three of them came against the Lions -- one each by Lewin Diaz, Choi Hyoung-woo and Kim Hun-gon. Diaz and Choi have either batted cleanup or fifth throughout this postseason.