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Eagles turn to ace Ponce to climb out of Korean Series hole

Published: 28 Oct. 2025, 15:25 Updated: 28 Oct. 2025, 16:05

LG Twins pitcher Son Ju-young, left, and Hanwha Eagles pitcher Cody Ponce have been named the starting pitchers for Game 3 of the 2025 KBO championship series to be held at Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon on Oct. 29. [YONHAP]

Having dropped the first two games of the Korean Series against the LG Twins, the Hanwha Eagles will start their ace Cody Ponce in Game 3 at home on Wednesday.

The Twins will counter homegrown left-hander Son Ju-young as they try to take a stranglehold of the best-of-seven KBO championship series.

The teams announced their starting pitchers on Tuesday morning, with Game 3 set for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon. The Twins won both of their games at home — Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul — opening the series with an 8-2 victory on Sunday and following it up with a 13-5 beatdown on Monday.

Only twice out of 21 times has a team rallied from a 2-0 hole to win the Korean Series. The Eagles will try to avoid going down 3-0, a deficit that no team has overcome in 12 previous tries.

Ponce was not available for either of the first two games of the series because he had pitched the deciding Game 5 in the previous round against the Samsung Lions last Friday.

He went on four days of rest after throwing 82 pitches that day. He posted a 3.71 ERA in the three regular-season starts he made after four days off — compared to a 2.06 ERA on five days of rest and 1.01 ERA on six or more days of rest.

Ponce was the Triple Crown winner in the regular season, with 17 wins, 252 strikeouts and a 1.89 ERA. But he had a 3.46 ERA in two starts versus the Twins, higher than against any other opponent. The Twins were also the only team against whom Ponce did not record a victory.

Kim Hyun-soo batted 3-for-6 with a home run and a double against Ponce. Moon Bo-gyeong was held hitless in five at-bats against the right-hander in the regular season, but Moon is now the hottest hitter of the Korean Series. He has gone 6-for-9 with a home run and two doubles for an eye-popping slugging percentage of 1.222.

Son Ju-young will make his second postseason start in his career. The 26-year-old is fresh off his best regular season, during which he set career bests with 11 wins, a 3.41 ERA, 153 innings pitched and 132 strikeouts. He had a breakout campaign in 2024, then had a star turn as an all-purpose swingman during the postseason later in the year.

He had a 1-0 record with a 1.38 ERA against the Eagles this year — holding them to one earned run in seven innings on May 29, as well as to one earned run over six innings on Aug. 10. Son only allowed two extra-base hits in those two starts.

Son is starting ahead of Yonny Chirinos, who was scratched from the start of Game 2 on Monday due to a spasm in his side. The Twins had hoped that Chirinos would be available for Game 3, but decided to push his return back by at least another day.

Yonhap