DAEGU (Interstat) — Kia and Samsung will open their playoff series with Game 1 on Monday at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. Kia, the visiting Tigers, carries a current record of 81 wins, 63 losses and 2 ties. Samsung, the home Lions, is 81-58-3. The forecast for game time is 62°F.

Kia’s player to watch is Shirakawa Keisho. In his most recent outing, he worked 5 innings, allowed four hits and one earned run and struck out nine in a 13-1 win at LG. He also pitched 4 innings, gave up four hits and three earned runs with two walks and two strikeouts in an 8-5 win against Shinsegae. In another recent start, he worked 3 1/3 innings, allowed five hits and three earned runs and struck out four in a 6-5 win at LG.

In Kia’s most recent game, a 13-1 win at LG, Shirakawa pitched 5 innings with four hits, one earned run and nine strikeouts. Kim Do-yeong went 1 for 4 with a home run and four RBIs, and Na Sung-bum went 2 for 4 with two home runs and two RBIs.

Samsung lost its most recent game 4-2 to KT. Lee Seung-min pitched 1 1/3 innings with no hits, no earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts. Bae Chan-seung pitched 1 2/3 innings with two hits, no earned runs, one walk and three strikeouts. Yang Chang-seop pitched 2 innings with three hits, one earned run and one strikeout. Samsung’s other recent results include a 12-3 loss to KT, a 3-1 loss at Shinsegae and a 9-3 loss at KT.

Kia’s other recent results include a 6-3 win against LG, a 5-1 win against LG, a 4-2 win against LG, a 4-1 loss to Lotte, an 8-5 win against Shinsegae, a 7-2 win at NC, a 12-4 win at Lotte and a 5-4 loss to Samsung.

Samsung won the most recent meeting 5-4 at Kia. Samsung also won two of the previous three meetings, and the teams split their past 10 games. Kia won three of five meetings in August. Earlier in the series, Kia won 12-3 and 9-4 at Samsung, while Samsung won 12-5 at home. Kia also won 7-6 at home, and Samsung won 3-2 in 10 innings at Kia. Kia added home wins of 3-1 and 7-2, and Samsung won 9-8 at Kia. The teams are scheduled to continue the series with later games in Daegu and at Kia.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Kia 8, Samsung 4. Interstat’s ELO system projects Samsung with a 52 percent probability to win.