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Top regular-season pitcher to duel postseason ace in winner-take-all game

Published: 23 Oct. 2025, 11:42

Hanwha Eagles starter Cody Ponce pitches against the Samsung Lions during Game 1 of the second-round series in the KBO postseason at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon on Oct. 18. [YONHAP]

The best starting pitcher from the regular season and the best starting pitcher in the ongoing postseason will take the mound for their respective teams in the winner-take-all playoff contest Friday night.

The Hanwha Eagles will host the Samsung Lions in Game 5 of their best-of-five KBO postseason series at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon.

Their series is tied up at two games apiece, and the winner on Friday will go on to play the LG Twins in the best-of-seven Korean Series, which starts at 2 p.m. Sunday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.

The Eagles, seeking their first trip to the Korean Series since 2006, will start right-hander Cody Ponce. The Lions, a win away from reaching their second straight Korean Series, will counter with right-hander Choi Won-tae.

Ponce is a strong regular-season MVP candidate after winning the Triple Crown as the league leader in wins (17), ERA (1.89) and strikeouts (252). However, the American pitcher had a rocky KBO postseason debut last Saturday, when he allowed six runs — one unearned — on seven hits, including a home run, in six innings. Ponce was still credited with the win as the Eagles held off the Lions 9-8. Ponce tied the postseason record for the most runs allowed by a winning pitcher.

The Eagles will need the regular-season version of Ponce if they are to continue their journey to end a title drought at 26 years.

The Eagles' bullpen coughed up a 4-0 lead to lose Game 4 by 7-4 on Wednesday in the Lions' home of Daegu, with right-hander Moon Dong-ju, who had fired four scoreless innings the previous night, not available. Eagles manager Kim Kyung-moon said after Wednesday's game that Moon's status for Game 5 remained up in the air. Without Moon, who has 10 Ks in six innings this series, the Eagles don't have another shutdown option in the bullpen, especially with closer Kim Seo-hyeon having surrendered four home runs in his past three appearances and looking unplayable with each passing game.

Choi's season has followed a different arc than Ponce's. After joining the Lions as a free agent during the offseason, Choi pitched to a 4.92 ERA, his worst mark since 2020, while going 8-7 in 27 starts.

Choi had a checkered postseason history and carried an unsightly 11.16 ERA in 18 playoff outings before this year. And he was pulled after hitting the only batter he faced in a wild card game against the NC Dinos on Oct. 6, his first postseason appearance as a Lion.

Since then, though, Choi has been a completely different pitcher since -- holding the opponents to a run on six hits in 13 innings combined.

In Game 2 against the Eagles on Sunday, Choi overcame a first-inning home run by Luis Liberato and fired seven strong innings for a 7-3 Lions win.

The Lions will need another gem from Choi to become the first team since the 2015-2021 Doosan Bears to appear in consecutive Korean Series.

The Lions' bullpen, while not exactly dominant, has avoided the kind of meltdown that the Eagles suffered Wednesday.

Yonhap