Doosan at Kiwoom
SEOUL (Interstat) — The Doosan Bears visit the Kiwoom Heroes on Saturday afternoon at Gocheok Sky Dome, a pivotal early-season matchup between two clubs looking to gain momentum in the Korea Baseball Organization standings.
Doosan (13-15-1) seeks its second straight victory after routing Kiwoom 16-6 on Friday. The Bears have won five of their last seven games and sit just above the Heroes in the league table. Kiwoom (11-18-1) has lost four of its last five and remains near the bottom of the standings.
Outfielder Daz Cameron paces Doosan’s attack. The right fielder is on a torrid stretch, going 3-for-3 with a home run and five RBIs in Friday’s win, and has collected 15 hits in his last 10 games, including two home runs and 12 RBIs. He has reached base safely in 10 of his last 11 contests.
Kiwoom counters with right-hander Jung Da-hun, who has been effective in relief. In Friday’s loss, Jung fired two scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out one. Over his last five appearances, spanning 5 2/3 innings, he has surrendered one earned run and held opponents to a .150 batting average.
The series has alternated recently: Doosan won Friday, but Kiwoom took the previous two meetings in early April, winning 5-2 on Apr. 7 and losing 7-3 on Apr. 8.
Interstat’s game simulator projects a 5-4 Kiwoom victory, though the agency’s ELO system gives Doosan a 57.6 percent probability to win. Betting markets have installed Kiwoom as a pregame favorite with a +1.5 spread, and the over/under is set at 6.5 runs.
Following Saturday’s game, the teams meet again Sunday at Gocheok Sky Dome before diverging schedules. Doosan travels to face the LG Twins on Tuesday, while Kiwoom visits the Samsung Lions.