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BUSAN, South Korea (Interstat) — The Kia Tigers visit the Lotte Giants on Tuesday evening at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium. First pitch is scheduled under cloudy skies with temperatures near 76 degrees.

Kia (44-37-2) leads the season series 5-2-1, but the Giants (36-44) won the most recent meeting, an 8-3 victory on June 3. That win snapped a three-game Kia winning streak in the rivalry. The Tigers have dropped two straight overall, most recently a 5-4 loss to the NC Dinos on Saturday.

Lotte is coming off a 4-2 loss at KT Wiz on Sunday, but the Giants won two of three in that series. Lotte has won four of its last seven games.

Players to watch

Kia reliever Kwak Do-gyu has been effective in recent outings. Over his last seven appearances, Kwak has allowed just one earned run in 4 1/3 innings with six strikeouts. He threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in Saturday’s loss to NC.

Lotte right-hander Park Se-woong is scheduled to start. Park pitched well in his last outing despite a no-decision, allowing two earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts over seven innings Sunday at KT. He has a 3.05 ERA over his last three starts with 22 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings.

Projection

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 5-4 Kia victory. Interstat’s ELO system gives the Tigers a 54.9 percent probability to win.

Up next

The teams continue their three-game series Wednesday and Thursday at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium. Kia then travels to face the Shinsegae Landers for four games starting July 16. Lotte visits the Samsung Lions for a four-game set beginning the same day.