AP Sports Preview

GWANGJU, South Korea (Interstat) — The Kia Tigers host the Hanwha Eagles on Wednesday evening at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the second game of their midweek series. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. under clear skies, with temperatures forecast at 59 degrees.

Kia (15-16-2) took the series opener Tuesday, defeating Hanwha 12-7. The Tigers have won three consecutive games against the Eagles this season, dating to an April 10-12 sweep in Daejeon. Hanwha (12-19-1) has lost four of its past five games.

Players to watch

Kia right fielder Park Jae-hyun enters on a tear. In Tuesday’s win, he went 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs. Over his past five games, Park is 10-for-21 with three homers and seven RBIs. He also homered April 26 against Lotte.

Hanwha reliever Yun San-heum tossed three scoreless innings Tuesday, allowing one hit. In his past three appearances, Yun has surrendered one earned run over 5 2/3 innings while striking out one. He worked a scoreless inning May 3 at Samsung and one inning May 2 against the Lions.

By the numbers

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 4-3 Kia victory, and the ELO system gives the Tigers a 53.20 percent probability of winning. Despite those projections, oddsmakers have installed Hanwha as a 1.5-run favorite. The over/under is 8.0.

The Tigers have relied on power recently; Kia scored 12 runs Tuesday. The Eagles, meanwhile, have struggled to generate consistent offense, plating three or fewer runs in five of their past seven games.

Recent trends

Hanwha’s offense has been led by third baseman Roh Si-hwan, who went 3-for-5 with a homer and an RBI on Tuesday. The Eagles are 5-8 on the road this season.

Kia starter Kim Tae-hyeong worked 2 1/3 scoreless relief innings Tuesday, striking out one. The Tigers are 8-6 at home.

Up next

The teams conclude the two-game set Thursday before Hanwha returns home to face LG. Kia travels to Busan for a weekend series against Lotte.