After meeting again vs. Oller… KS ticket and PO 5th game clash

Professional baseball team Ariel Jurado of the Samsung Lions and Adam Oler of the KIA Tigers will face off again at the single-tree bridge, where advancement to the Korean Series is at stake.

Samsung and KIA are in a tight battle with a series record of 2 wins and 2 losses, and will play the 5th game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League postseason playoffs (PO, 3 wins out of 5) at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on November 1.

The team that wins here will clash with KT Wiz, who entered the Korean Series in first place in the regular season, for the long-awaited championship trophy.

The two teams, with no place to retreat, will bring Hurado and Oller, who faced off as starters in the second PO game held in Daegu on the 27th, to the mound after four days of rest.

In the first match of the second round of PO, Jurado won a complete victory.

At that time, Jurado threw 108 pitches in 6⅔ innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 2 runs, leading the team to an 8-3 victory and becoming the winning pitcher.

Even in the regular season, Jurado showed stability against KIA.

This year, he started once in a home game in Daegu and went 7 innings without a win or a loss, allowing 10 hits, no walks, 7 strikeouts, and 3 runs.

Although his hitting percentage was somewhat high at 0.345 (10 hits in 29 at-bats), he managed the crisis with aggressive pitching that did not give up a single walk.

KIA Oller is faced with the task of breaking the severe ‘Daegu jinx’.

In Game 2 of PO, Oller threw 96 pitches over 4⅔ innings, allowing 5 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, and 5 runs, becoming the losing pitcher.

Even when looking at the regular season performance, the differences between Oler's stadiums were extreme.

This year, against Samsung, he recorded 2 wins and 1 loss in 3 games, an ERA of 5.79, and a hitting percentage of 0.241, but at home in Gwangju, Jeonnam, he pitched close to perfection with 2 wins in 2 games, 6 hits, 2 walks, 15 strikeouts, 1 run in 13 innings, and an ERA of 0.69.

However, in the Daegu expedition, he appeared in one game and was battered with an ERA of 72.00, allowing 7 hits (1 home run), 3 walks, and 8 runs in 1 inning.

Including the 2nd PO game, he struggled especially in Daegu this year, allowing 13 runs (average ERA 20.65) in 2 games and 5⅔ innings.

In order for Oller to wash away the pain of Game 2, he must break the link between Samsung's left-handed batter lineup and the upper and lower batting lineup.

There are many people to watch out for, including Lee Jae-hyeon, who had 2 hits in 3 at-bats and 3 RBIs against All-Rers during the regular season, Koo Ja-wook, who had 3 hits in 7 at-bats, Ryu Ji-hyuk, who had 2 hits in 5 at-bats, and Park Seung-gyu and Lewin Diaz, who had crucial RBIs in Game 2.