The line movement in the KBO, from open to close, is still significantly more substantial than the movement in the NPB market, where the opening lines seem pretty sharp and there is likely less action in general, given the lack of coverage here in the United States.

Probable Pitchers: NC Dinos (Sung-young Choi ) vs. Doosan Bears (Raul Alcantara)

The Bears held a 3-1 lead in the 8th inning against the Dinos on Friday, but their bullpen allowed seven runs over the final two frames in a 9-3 loss, spoiling another solid start from youngster Jong-gi Park (5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K).

he Bears now trail 5-2 in the season series against the Dinos and sit 4.5 games behind in the KBO standings.

They’ll look for Raul Alcantara (3.86 FIP) to give them another quality start on Saturday, and hope that their bullpen doesn’t spoil a potential lead against 23-year-old southpaw Sung-young Choi (8.43 FIP).

FIP or Fielding Independent Pitching measures what a pitcher’s ERA would look like if the pitcher experienced league-average defense and luck.

wRC+ or Weighted Runs Created Plus takes the statistic Runs Created and adjusts that number to account for critical external factors — like ballpark or era. It’s adjusted, so a wRC+ of 100 is league average, and 150 would be 50 percent above league average.

Alcantara (7-1, 3.70 ERA) has been dominant over his past three appearances, which includes a win over the Dinos on June 10 (7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K).

He has posted a solid walk rate over two years in the KBO (1.5 BB/9) and increased his strikeout rate from 13.8% to 19.7% this season, after joining the Bears from the KT Wiz.

Alcantara offers atypical velocity relative to KBO hurlers — with the ability to hit 99 mph. He pairs the big fastball with a changeup (86 mph), slider (89 mph) and rare curveball (83 mph)

Choi posted a 62:49 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 26 appearances (82.1 IP) in 2019, and he has allowed 16 hits and nine runs in 10.2 innings this year, including a poor start against the Bears on June 9.

Tigers @ Heroes
Kia Tigers (24-19):
HJYang is 0-1, 9.00 in his last two starts, 3-1, 4.03 in five road starts.
Teams’ record in his starts: 5-4 Team in first 5 innings: 4-4-1
Allowed run in first inning: 2-9 Totals: over 6-3

— Tigers won five of last seven games.
— Kia lost eight of its last 13 road games.
— Under is 11-3-2 in last 16 Tiger road games.
— Tigers are 8-1 in 2nd game of a series, if they won the opener.

Kiwoom Heroes (28-18):
Jokisch is 6-2, 2.60 in nine starts, 3-1, 2.42 at home.
Teams’ record in his starts: 7-2 Team in first 5 innings: 5-2-2
Allowed run in first inning: 3-9 Totals: 4-4-1

— Heroes won eight of their last nine games.
— Kiwoom won nine of its last 14 home games.
— Under is 6-3-1 in last ten Kiwoom home games.
— Kiwoom are 2-2 in 2nd game of a series, if they lost the opener.

Wiz @ Eagles
KT Wiz (19-26):
Cuevas is 1-1, 4.42 in his last three starts, 0-1, 5.19 in three road starts.
Teams’ record in his starts: 2-4 Team in first 5 innings: 2-2-2
Allowed run in first inning: 2-6 Totals: over 4-2

— Wiz lost three of its last four games.
— Wiz won four of their last six road games.
— Under is 6-3 in their nine games.
— Wiz are 4-6 in 2nd game of a series, if they lost the opener.

Hanwha Eagles (12-34):
MWKim is 0-4, 9.41 in his last five starts, 0-1, 2.25 in three home outings.
Teams’ record in his starts: 2-5 Team in first 5 innings: 1-5-1
Allowed run in first inning: 2-7 Totals: last four over

— Hanwha lost seven of its last ten games.
— Eagles lost 13 of their last 16 home games.
— Over is 7-4 in their last 11 home games.
— Eagles are 0-3 in 2nd game of a series, if they won the opener.

Twins @ Wyverns
LG Twins (25-20)
CHJung is 3-0, 2.29 in his last three starts, 2-0, 3.55 on the road.
Teams’ record in his starts: 4-1 Team in first 5 innings: 3-2
Allowed run in first inning: 2-5 Totals: over 3-2

— Twins lost their last seven games.
— Twins won four of their last five road games.
— Under is 7-3 in Twins’ last ten road games.
— Twins are 2-4 in 2nd game of a series, if they won the opener.

SK Wyverns (14-31):
Pinto is 1-1, 4.09 in his last four starts, 3-0, 2.84 in five home starts.
Teams’ record in his starts: 4-5 Team in first 5 innings: 4-3-2
Allowed run in first inning: 4-9 Totals: 4-4-1

— Wyverns lost eight of their last ten games.
— SK lost eight of its last 11 home games.
— Wyverns’ bullpen is 3-13 this season.
— Under is 8-3-2 in Wyverns’ last 13 home games.
— SK is 2-2 in 2nd game of a series, if they won the opener.

Dinos @ Bears:
NC Dinos (31-13)
SYChoi is 0-0, 9.82 in two starts (7.1 IP); Dinos scored 20 runs in the two games.
Teams’ record in his starts: 2-0 Team in first 5 innings: 2-0
Allowed run in first inning: 1-2 Totals: over 2-0

— NC is 7-7 in its last 14 games.
— Dinos are 8-6 in their last 14 road games.
— Over is 7-3 in their last ten road games.
— Dinos are 6-4 in 2nd game of a series, if they won the opener.

Doosan Bears (27-18):
Alcantara is 7-0, 3.78 in his last eight starts, 2-1, 3.12 in four home starts.
Teams’ record in his starts: 7-2 Team in first 5 innings: 8-1
Allowed run in first inning: 2-9 Totals: under 5-4

— Bears won six of their last eight games.
— Doosan is 8-5 in its last 13 home games.
— Under is 9-3 in Bears’ last 12 home games.
— Doosan is 4-1 in 2nd game of a series, if they lost the opener.

Lions @ Giants
Samsung Lions (23-23):
JHBaek is 2-0, 2.00 in his last three starts, 1-1, 8.44 in three road starts.
Teams’ record in his starts: 3-3 Team in first 5 innings: 2-4
Allowed run in first inning: 1-6 Totals: 3-3

— Lions won four of their last five games overall.
— Samsung is 5-3 in its last eight road games.
— Over is 6-1-1 in Lions’ last eight games.
— Lions are 5-1 in 2nd game of a series, if they won the opener.

Lotte Giants (21-22)
Sampson is 2-3, 5.81 in five starts, 1-1, 4.35 at home.
Teams’ record in his starts: 2-3 Team in first 5 innings: 2-2-1
Allowed run in first inning: 2-59 Totals: over 3-2

— Giants lost five of their last seven games.
— Lotte won seven of its last eight home games.
— Under is 8-4 in Giants’ last 12 home games.
— Lotte are 4-3 in 2nd game of a series, if they lost the opener.

Umpires:
Eagles-Lions- Over is 3-0 in JYJang games.
Tigers-Giants- Under is 4-3 in SCSong games
Dinos-Wiz- Over is 4-2 in ISChun games.
Bears-Wyverns- Six of seven ISKim games stayed under.
Heroes-Twins- Under is 3-0 in last three GYPark games.