GWANGJU (Interstat) — The Kiwoom Heroes will visit the Kia Tigers on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, South Korea. The game-time forecast calls for 73 degrees and clouds. Kiwoom enters the matchup with a 45-78-8 record, while Kia is 66-54-6.

Kiwoom will turn to right-hander Raul Alcántara, its player to watch. In his most recent outing, Sept. 12 against Lotte, he took the loss in an 8-0 defeat after allowing one earned run on eight hits over six innings with five strikeouts. On Sept. 6 against NC, he earned the win in a 7-6 victory, allowing two earned runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts over seven innings. On Sept. 1 against Shinsegae, he allowed four earned runs on eight hits over six innings with eight strikeouts in a 10-7 loss.

Kia will counter with right-hander Shirakawa Keisho, its player to watch. On Sept. 13 against Hanwha, he earned the win in a 9-2 victory, allowing two earned runs on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts over five innings. On Sept. 8 at Samsung, he took the loss in a 6-4 defeat, allowing four earned runs on three hits with five walks and one strikeout over 4 2/3 innings. On Sept. 2 at NC, he earned the win in a 6-5 victory, allowing two earned runs on four hits with one walk and five strikeouts over six innings.

The teams have met 10 times in their most recent head-to-head stretch, with Kia going 6-3-1. Kia won the opener 11-1 on Aug. 21, Kiwoom took the next game 3-1 on Aug. 22, and the finale ended 0-0 on Aug. 23. Earlier, Kia swept three games at Kiwoom from June 23-25 and won 5-0 on May 28.

Kiwoom’s most recent game was an 8-0 loss to Lotte on Sept. 12. Alcántara allowed one earned run over six innings with five strikeouts. Kia’s most recent game was a 9-2 win over Hanwha on Sept. 13. Shirakawa allowed two earned runs over five innings with eight strikeouts, Kim Do-yeong drove in three runs, and Park Jae-hyun drove in two. After this game, Kiwoom is scheduled to visit Doosan on Friday, Sept. 18. Kia is set to visit NC on Saturday, Sept. 19.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Kia Tigers 4, Kiwoom Heroes 2. Interstat’s ELO system gives Kia a 70.9 percent probability to win. Kia is the pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5, and the over-under is 8.5.