Korean baseball league restarts with record watch

The Korean professional baseball league is set to ignite its second half on Tuesday, following a brief All-Star hiatus. Five stadiums across the nation will host the opening series, featuring rematches of the initial two games from March, now extended to a four-game format.

All eyes are on the clash between second-place LG and third-place KT at Jamsil Stadium. LG, having relinquished the top spot to Samsung after a loss in their final game before the break, will start ace pitcher Tyler Tolhurst. Tolhurst's performance is critical, as he has struggled since June with a 1-4 record and a 5.56 ERA. LG, currently tied with Samsung in winning percentage, has a chance to regain the lead with a strong showing in this series.

KT, trailing LG by 3.5 games, aims to carry their momentum from a three-game winning streak into the second half. They have entrusted the starting pitcher role for the opening game to Logan, an alternative foreign player. KT holds a 5-3 advantage over LG in their season series, with free-agent acquisition Choi Won-joon batting a strong .400 against LG this season.

League leaders Samsung will host Lotte in Daegu for a four-game series. The team faces a challenge as starting pitcher Adrian Sampson, who has been a workhorse with 107 innings pitched, is sidelined with a right shoulder injury. Yang Chang-seop, the team's leading pitcher with 7 wins and no losses, will start the first game. Lotte, who swept Samsung in their opening series, has announced Ricardo Rodriguez as their starter.

Meanwhile, SSG, which fell to ninth place after a club-record 13-game losing streak in the first half, will debut new foreign pitcher Ethan Avila at home against KIA. SSG had also won their opening series against KIA. Other matchups include NC vs. Doosan and Hanwha vs. Kiwoom.

Beyond the team rivalries, veteran players are poised to make history. Hanwha's Ryu Hyun-jin needs just one more strikeout to reach 2,500 career strikeouts across Korea and the U.S. He has recorded 1,565 in Korea and 934 in MLB. Ryu has averaged at least two strikeouts per game in his 15 starts this season.

KT's Kim Hyun-soo is on the cusp of setting a new KBO record for consecutive seasons with 100 or more hits. With 98 hits this season, he needs just two more to surpass the 16-season streaks of Yang Joon-hyuk and Park Han-yi (both retired). SSG's Choi Jeong aims to extend his own record for consecutive seasons with 20 or more home runs from 10 to 11, needing just one more homer.