KT Wiz starter Wes Benjamin celebrates after retiring the side in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Doosan Bears during the teams' Korea Baseball Organization wild card game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, Oct. 3. Yonhap
During his three-year career in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), KT Wiz starter Wes Benjamin has kept the LG Twins in check. In 10 career starts against them over 59 2/3 innings, Benjamin has a 1.66 ERA — his lowest mark against any opponent.
The American left-hander will look to maintain his dominance over the Twins when the two clubs collide in a pivotal Game 3 of their best-of-five first round in the KBO postseason Tuesday, with the series tied at 1-1.
The first pitch is 6:30 p.m. at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of Seoul.
On the six previous occasions when teams were tied at 1-1 after two games of the best-of-five first round, the Game 3 winner has advanced to the next round all six times.
Benjamin tossed seven shutout innings and struck out six in the second wild card game against the Doosan Bears on Thursday, as the Wiz prevailed 1-0 to become the first No. 5 seed to make it out of the wild card round.
Benjamin has so far neutralized the Twins' lefty-heavy lineup. In the first two games of this series, the Twins doled out a lineup featuring seven left-handed batters. Manager Youm Kyoung-youb did not use a pinch hitter in either of those games.
After the Twins pounded out 10 hits in their 7-2 win Sunday, Youm said he will have the same lineup for Tuesday. Though only No. 3 hitter Austin Dean and No. 7 hitter Park Dong-won bat right-handed, Youm believes the current lineup construction will give him the best chance to put up runs on the board, even if they face a left-handed starter.
In this file photo from Aug. 28, LG Twins starter Choi Won-tae celebrates after retiring the side in the top of the seventh inning against the KT Wiz during the teams' Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. Yonhap
And if they can keep things close until the Wiz get to their bullpen, the Twins may have a chance because the Wiz do not have a left-handed reliever. The Twins posted the second-highest batting average against right-handed pitchers this year at .284.
Benjamin will be out to get a measure of revenge after the Wiz lost to the Twins in last year's Korean Series. In Game 3, Benjamin got a no-decision after giving up four runs on seven hits in five innings, with the Wiz losing 8-7. They dropped the next two games to fall short of their second championship in three years.
"I think we have that fire in us still from last year. We've been thinking about it for a while," Benjamin told Yonhap News Agency before Saturday's game. "To us, it's still very personal."
Benjamin's counterpart for Tuesday, Choi Won-tae, had an even worse Korean Series a year ago. He started one game and came out of the bullpen in another, but allowed five runs in only 1 1/3 innings combined, for a ghastly ERA of 33.75.
For his postseason career, Choi is 0-1 with a save in 15 outings with an 11.17 ERA. He has surrendered four home runs and issued 11 walks in only 19 1/3 innings. That's 1.86 homers and 5.12 walks per nine innings, compared to 0.73 homer and 2.86 walks per nine innings in his regular-season career.
Choi did have some success this year against the Wiz, going 2-0 with a 3.50 ERA in three starts, with 20 strikeouts in 18 innings.
The victorious side on Tuesday will move within a win of reaching the next postseason round. Both teams will look to their starters to carry the day. (Yonhap)