The Doosan Bears and NC Dinos kicked off the fall baseball season with a bang. With the SSG Landers’ victory in the final game of the three-way tie for third place, Doosan is set to face NC for the final wild-card spot.
Doosan and NC will face off in the wild-card deciding game on April 19 at NC Park in Changwon. Doosan, who finished fifth in the regular season, must win two games in a row to qualify.
On the other hand, the fourth-ranked NSC needs just one win at home to advance to the semifinals (best-of-three) and face the defending champion SSG Landers.
Needing to win both games, Doosan has selected ‘homegrown ace’ Kwak Bin to start Game 1. Kwak Bin has appeared in 23 games this year, posting a 12-7 record with a 2.90 ERA.
Against Yen, he has a 3-1 record with a 3.07 ERA in three games. The Nats will be led on the mound by second-year starter Tanner Tully.
Tanner joined the organization midway through the season and has appeared in 11 games, posting a 5-2 record with a 2.92 ERA. He has made one start against Doosan, picking up a win.
The two teams have an identical 8-8 record against each other in the regular season. In the last five games alone, NSC is 3-2, one game ahead of Doosan. 카지노사이트777
If Kwak Bin successfully defends game one, Doosan plans to use Brandon Waddell in game two to win both games.
Brandon has yet to take the mound against Yen.
For Doosan to win the first game, they will need a big game from their catcher, Yang Ji. Yang, who is batting .305 this season, is batting .349 with two home runs and five RBIs against the Nats.
However, the challenge will be to overcome the deterioration of his stamina due to his recent stint on the field.
Since the wild-card game was introduced in 2015, the fifth-place finisher has never finished fourth and advanced to the semifinals.
“The word ‘miracle’ will always be engraved in the players’ minds,” Doosan coach Lee Seung-yup said before the final home game against ESG on April 16.