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Rested Lions taking on red-hot Dinos to begin KBO postseason on Chuseok

Published: 05 Oct. 2025, 13:50

Samsung Lions starter Ariel Jurado pitches against the Kia Tigers during the club's KBO regular-season game at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Sept. 30. [YONHAP]

After making it all the way to the championship round last year, the Samsung Lions will begin this year's postseason in Korean baseball in the first stage — against the hottest team in the league, at that.

The Lions, the 2024 Korean Series runners-up, finished fourth in the KBO regular season with a win-loss-tie record of 74-68-2, earning home-field advantage in the wild card round. They will face the NC Dinos, who finished fifth at 71-67-6 and grabbed that final postseason ticket by winning their last nine regular-season games.

Game 1 of their series starts at 2 p.m. on Monday, the day of Chuseok, at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu.

As the higher seed, the Lions only need a tie to advance to the next round, where the No. 3 seed SSG Landers are waiting. The Dinos, though, must win two straight games to move on, with the Lions also hosting Game 2 if the wild card series gets there.

The KBO introduced the wild card round in 2015, and only once has a lower-ranked team emerged victorious — the KT Wiz in 2024.

The Lions won the season series over the Dinos 9-7-0. They punched their postseason ticket on Tuesday and played their regular-season finale on Saturday, which gave their veterans much-needed rest.

The Lions will have their two aces lined up for this series: Ariel Jurado for Monday and, if necessary, Won Tae-in for the second game.

Jurado led the league with 197 1/3 innings and 23 quality starts, and ranked fourth in the KBO in both wins at 15 and ERA at 2.60.

Jurado also pitched well against the Dinos during the regular season with a 3-0 record and a 2.10 ERA in four starts.

The Dinos played high-stakes games down the stretch and needed every one of those nine victories to squeeze into the postseason. Needing at least a tie in their final regular-season game Saturday, the Dinos had to turn to their No. 1 starter Riley Thompson, who won't be available for the wild card round.

They will send left-hander Koo Chang-mo to start Monday's game. Koo pitched four games this season after getting discharged from the military, and went 1-0 with a 2.51 ERA.

The oft-injured hurler has not yet thrown more than 4 1/3 innings this year but he has flashed stuff that once made him one of the KBO's most promising pitchers before his mandatory military service.

On Sept. 18, Koo threw three shutout innings against the Lions and struck out four.

These two clubs were among the most productive offenses in the regular season. The Lions led the KBO with 161 home runs and a .427 slugging percentage, led by first baseman Lewin Diaz, who topped all players with 50 homers and a .644 slugging percentage.

The Dinos ranked third with 732 runs and a .399 slugging percentage. Their own hard-hitting first baseman, Matt Davidson, launched 36 home runs to finish second behind Diaz.

Yonhap