Sidearm pitcher looking to give Bears commanding postseason lead

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- Right-hander Choi Won-jun will try to give the Doosan Bears a commanding postseason series lead against the KT Wiz on Tuesday.

The Bears defeated the Wiz 3-2 in Game 1 of the best-of-five second round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason on Monday. They announced Choi as their Game 2 starter at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, with the first pitch at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Choi was 10-2 with a 3.80 ERA while splitting his 42 games between the bullpen and the rotation.

He faced the Wiz five times and had a 6.89 ERA without recording any wins or losses. He served up three homers in 15 2/3 innings.

Catcher Jang Sung-woo had the best numbers against Choi, as he batted 3-for-5 with a home run, five RBIs and two runs scored. Mel Rojas Jr., a leading MVP candidate, also homered once off Choi.

In the previous postseason round against the LG Twins last week, Choi made two relief appearances and pitched 2 2/3 innings of one-run ball.

The Wiz will try to tie up the series with Cuban right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne on the mound.

Despaigne was 15-8 with a 4.33 ERA and the league-best 207 2/3 innings pitched.

Despaigne had the worst ERA against the Bears among all opponents during the regular season. He had a 7.04 ERA in four starts against them while posting a 0-1 record. He gave up four home runs in 23 innings, including two by the cleanup hitter Kim Jae-hwan. Kim batted 5-for-9 with three RBIs, four runs and three walks against Despaigne.

Fellow Cuban Jose Miguel Fernandez batted 5-for-13 against Despaigne with a home run and five RBIs.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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