KT Uhm Sang-baek, SSG Elias to start 5th place deciding game…with honor on the line

KT Wiz’s Uhm Sang-baek and SSG Landers Roenis Elias will face off in the starting lineup with the prestige of their respective teams on the line.

The two players will start for both teams in the fifth-place deciding game (tiebreaker) of the 2024 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) World Series on Oct. 1 at 5 p.m. at Katie Wiz Park in Suwon.

KT and SSG tied for fifth place this season and will meet in the fifth-place deciding game for the first time in baseball.

The winner of that game will advance to the wild-card decider against the fourth-place Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 2.

Initially, KT had planned to start homegrown ace Ko Young-pyo in the fifth-place game.

Go was trusted because he had pitched well against SSG this season with a 2.08 ERA in four games.

However, the plan was disrupted when the team used him as the third pitcher in the regular season finale against the Kiwoom Heroes on April 28.

Eom Sang-baek, who started in place of Ko, has a 4.67 ERA in three games against SSG this season.

Most recently, on August 24, he pitched relatively well against SSG, allowing two runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts in 5⅔ innings.

If Uhm Sang-baek struggles early in the game, Ko Young-pyo could be utilized as a middle reliever.

Ko threw 48 pitches against Kiwoom on Aug. 28.

KT had two days off after the game against Kiwoom on the 28th, so they have plenty of bullpen depth.

They can use their closer Park Young-hyun, as well as So Min-joon and Son Dong-hyun, who have returned from injury.

Against them, Elias has a 3.07 ERA in two games against KT.

He pitched seven innings of six-hit, two-run ball with seven strikeouts and one walk in the win over KT on April 21.

The starting battle weighs in favor of SSG, but stamina is a factor.

SSG played a six-game series from the 21st, followed by a game against the Hanwha Eagles on the 28th, and then a game against Kiwoom on the 30th.

“Overall, the players are tired,” said SSG coach Lee ‘We played every game like a postseason at the end of the season, and we’re going to keep going until the end,’ Lee said.

Revenue from the tiebreaker will be distributed in the same way as the regular season, but the games will have no bearing on regular season records and will not affect individual titles.

In the case of extra innings, there is no innings or time limit to decide the winner. 안전놀이터