Samsung Jurado vs. KIA Oller, starting match for the second round of the playoffs

(Daegu = Yonhap News) Reporter Dae-ho Lee = Professional baseball Samsung Lions and KIA Tigers each take out foreign right-arm selection cards in the second game of the playoffs (PO, 3 wins out of 5).

Samsung and KIA announced Ariel Jurado and Adam Oler, respectively, as starting pitchers for the second round of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League postseason playoffs to be held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 27th.

Samsung starter Hurado will challenge for his first win in fall baseball with his stable innings ability.

Since they lost the first game on the 26th, Jurado's good performance is even more urgent.

Jurado made one start in the Daegu home game against KIA in this year's regular season and retired without a win or loss with 10 hits, 7 strikeouts and 3 runs in 7 innings.

At the time, his hitting percentage was a bit high at 0.345, but thanks to his exquisite ball control, he did not give up a single walk or home run and prevented a large number of runs.

For Jurado, this appearance is also an opportunity to reap his first personal postseason victory.

Until last year, Jurado appeared in 4 postseason games (3 starting games) and recorded an ERA of 4.29 in 21 innings, but suffered only 3 losses due to poor luck.

As he was responsible for more than 6⅔ innings in all three games as a starter, the key to Samsung's mound management is to be able to endure long innings in the second game as well.

In the KIA batting lineup, Na Seong-beom and Kim Ho-ryeong, who hit 2 hits in 3 at-bats (batting average of 0.667) against Hurado this season, are on standby. Kim Do-young also recorded 1 hit (1 triple) in 3 at-bats in the match against Jurado. On the other hand, Kim Sun-bin (0 hits in 4 at-bats) and Park Jae-hyun (1 hit in 4 at-bats) struggled against Jurado.

To counter this, KIA's starting all-rounders take the mound with the task of overcoming the extreme differences between stadiums.

Oller started in 3 games against Samsung in this year's regular season, leaving with 2 wins, 1 loss, and an average ERA of 5.79.

Looking at the details, the temperature difference between the home room and the away room was clear. In his two appearances against Samsung held at Champions Field in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do, he pitched close to perfection, allowing 6 hits, 2 walks, 15 strikeouts, and 1 run (average ERA 0.69) over 13 innings, earning two wins.

However, in his away appearance in Daegu on July 28, he collapsed after allowing 7 hits (1 home run), 3 walks, and 8 runs in 1 inning, becoming the losing pitcher.

He pitched well in his first appearance on the fall stage and his momentum is high. On the 18th, Oller started in the second game of the semi-playoff match against the LG Twins and pitched well, allowing 6 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts, and 2 runs in 6 innings and became the winning pitcher.

In order for Oller to erase the nightmare at Daegu Stadium, he must be wary of his ‘natural enemies’ hitters. This year, Oller showed a strong performance against Samsung main guns Choi Hyung-woo (1 hit in 7 at-bats, 5 strikeouts), Llewin Diaz (1 hit in 6 at-bats, 3 strikeouts), and Kim Seong-yoon (0 hits in 4 at-bats).

On the other hand, they allowed 3 hits in 7 at-bats (batting average 0.429) and 2 RBIs to Ja-wook Koo, who returned from injury, 2 hits in 3 at-bats (1 home run) and 3 RBIs to Jae-hyun Lee, and 2 hits in 5 at-bats (batting average 0.400) to Ji-hyuk Ryu.