South Korean baseball's ERA leader and its wins leader will go up against each other to open the championship series Monday. The Kia Tigers and the Samsung Lions will clash in the best-of-seven Korean Series starting Monday in Gwangju, the Tigers' home located 270 kilometers south of Seoul. During the Korean Series media day Sunday in Gwangju, Tigers manager Lee Bum-ho announced right-hander James Naile as his Game 1 starter. His Lions counterpart, Park Jin-man, named right-hander Won Tae-in as his starter for the opening game, which will start at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field. In his first Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season, Naile led all qualified pitchers with a 2.53 ERA across 149 1/3 innings. He had a 12-5 record in 26 starts. Naile, 31, saw his season come to an abrupt end on Aug. 24, when he was struck in the face by a line drive off the bat of NC Dinos hitter Matt Davidson. Naile had been in the midst of his best month of the season, with a 0.70 ERA in five starts and no ea rned run allowed in four of them. The American pitcher was diagnosed with a broken jaw and didn't pitch again the rest of the regular season. However, with the Tigers earning a bye to the Korean Series by virtue of posting the best regular-season record, Naile had plenty of time to recover and prepare for the championship round. ?"He was the best pitcher in the league this season," Lee said. "He's in perfect health. He resumed pitching a month ago and he has no physical issues. He will be our key player because if he pitches well and helps us win Game 1, it will give us good momentum for the rest of the series."? Naile did not have great numbers against the Lions, pitching to a 4.09 ERA in two starts, though he struck out 14 in 11 innings. Kang Min-ho and Kim Young-woong each homered off Naile. They are also the only two active Lions players to have had multiple hits against Naile, with the other, David MacKinnon, no longer on the team. Won will be pitching in his first Korean Series at age 24. He tied f or the league lead with a career-high 15 wins, and posted a 3.66 ERA, the best mark among South Korean pitchers this year. In the previous postseason round against the LG Twins, the right-hander threw 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the Lions' 10-5 win in Game 2 last Tuesday. He was named the Player of the Game. He had a 2.25 ERA in two regular-season starts versus the Tigers. They were the only team that did not hit a home run against Won this season. ?"Won Tae-in led the league in wins and there's no need for further explanation," Park said. "He is our most trustworhty starter."? Three of the Tigers' most dangerous hitters had the most success against Won. Na Sung-bum and Choi Hyoung-woo each batted 3-for-6 with a double, while Kim Do-yeong, the regular-season MVP front runner, batted 2-for-4 with a triple and two walks against the right-hander. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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