KIA Tigers vs. Kiwoom Heroes – 8/22/20 KBO Baseball Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Kiwoom Heroes and KIA Tigers meet Saturday morning in South Korea KBO baseball action at the Gocheok Sky Dome.

The Kiwoom Heroes look for a win after winning 16 of their last 22 games. The Kiwoom Heroes have scored no less than five runs in 17 of their last 36 games. In their last effort, Jeon Byung-woo and Byeon Sang-kwon combined for two hits and three RBI while Lee Seung-ho allowed four runs and six hits in five innings of work. The Kiwoom Heroes have won 19 of their last 31 games overall. Kim Tae-hoon gets the ball tonight for the Kiwoom Heroes.    

The KIA Tigers need a victory after losing 11 of their last 19 games. The KIA Tigers pitching staff has allowed four or less runs in 28 of their last 52 games. In their last effort, Na Ji-wan and Preston Tucker combined for four hits and four RBI while Im Ki-young allowed one run and two hits in six innings of work. The KIA Tigers have won 30 of their last 55 games overall. Yang Hyun-jong gets the ball tonight for the KIA Tigers.   

The KIA Tigers have won five of the last seven meetings against the Kiwoom Heroes. Six of the last nine meetings between the Tigers and Heroes have produced double-digit run totals.

Kim Tae-hoon has a 3.89 ERA and 1.16 WHIP this season through 44 innings, and he just allowed three runs and three hits in 0.1 innings against the LG Twins. Yang Hyun-jong has a 5.57 ERA and 1.46 WHIP this season through 95.1 innings, and he’s allowed three or more earned runs in six of his last eight starts. The KIA Tigers may have had the h2h advantage in recent meetings, but it’s the Kiwoom Heroes who have the clear pitching advantage and head into this series playing the better baseball. Yang Hyun-jong has been awful to say the least over the last month or so and has put a lot of pressure on the KIA Tigers offense to produce when he’s on the mound.

I’ll gladly side with the Kiwoom Heroes and the cheap price in this contest.