Daejeon: With the opener of his team's postseason series having turned from an evening game to a day game, Hanwha Eagles manager Kim Kyung-moon predicted a low-scoring game Saturday. The Eagles had been scheduled to host the Samsung Lions to begin the second round of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon. However, persistent showers led to the postponement of the game to 2 p.m. Saturday. During the KBO postseason, all weekday games begin at 6:30 p.m. and all weekend games start at 2 p.m.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the regular season follows a similar schedule, with all weekday games starting at 6:30 p.m. and most weekend games beginning at 2 p.m. "I feel players always feel a little more tired playing day games because they're more familiar with the 6:30 p.m. start time and their sleep schedules are thrown out of whack for afternoon games," Kim said in his pregame media availability Saturday. "I believe pitchers have an inherent advantage over hitters in day games." He also noted that the unpredictable nature of baseball means outcomes can vary.

Both starting pitchers for Game 1, Cody Ponce for the Eagles and Gerson Garabito for the Lions, have performed well against their respective opponents. Ponce pitched six shutout innings in his only regular-season meeting against the Lions on July 30, while Garabito delivered two scoreless outings against the Eagles on June 26 and July 29. Ponce has excelled in day games with a 6-0 record and a 0.59 ERA in seven starts, whereas Garabito has limited experience with only one afternoon start.

Kim emphasized the importance of scoring the first run and capitalizing on opportunities with the quality of the starting pitchers. Lions manager Park Jin-man concurred that day games can be more challenging for hitters and could favor pitchers, noting Ponce's dominance. "It's difficult to piece together hits and score runs off Ponce," Park said. "We will try to scratch out one run at a time. We hope Ponce will have a shaky outing."

Before the postponement, Park had hoped that the added pressure of Ponce's first KBO postseason game would affect his performance. "When it comes to preparing for the game and following the routine, an extra day could only make starting pitchers more nervous," Park remarked. "So we're trying to see this in a positive light."