KT Wiz at Lotte Giants Preview

BUSAN, South Korea (Interstat) — The first-place KT Wiz visit the Lotte Giants on Friday evening at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium, with first pitch set under clear skies and 81-degree temperatures.

KT (51-35-2) enters the matchup riding a stretch of strong play, having won four of its last five games. The Wiz’s most recent outing ended in a 2-2 tie with the Doosan Bears on Tuesday.

Right-hander Oh Won-seok is expected to start for KT. Oh has shown dominance in two of his last three outings, allowing one earned run with seven strikeouts over five innings in a no-decision against Doosan on July 21. He also tossed six innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts in a loss to the Samsung Lions on June 26. However, his July 2 start against the Hanwha Eagles was a struggle, as he surrendered eight earned runs in just 1 1/3 innings.

Lotte (40-49-1) is looking to rebound after a 5-2 loss to the Shinsegae Landers on Thursday. The Giants have dropped three of their last four games.

Right-hander Elvin Rodríguez is slated to take the mound for Lotte. Rodríguez has been effective recently, allowing three earned runs over six innings with seven strikeouts in a losing effort against Shinsegae. He has been particularly sharp in his preceding two starts, yielding one earned run in seven innings against both the Kia Tigers on July 7 and the Doosan Bears on July 1, winning both outings.

The head-to-head series this season has been dominated by the home team. The teams last met from July 3-5 in Suwon, where Lotte took two of three, winning 4-1 and 4-0 before dropping the finale 4-2. Earlier this season, at Sajik Stadium, the clubs split a two-game set April 7-8, with each team winning one.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 6-4 victory for KT, while its ELO system gives the Wiz a 55.3 percent probability of winning.

The three-game series continues Saturday and Sunday. KT then travels to face the NC Dinos, while Lotte heads to Hanwha.