[Official] A century-defining showdown created by rain! An Woo-jin vs. Kwak Bin, a fiery ace starting matchup at Jamsil Stadium — the first of its kind in the regular season.

*This content was translated by AI.

Heavy raindrops pouring over Jamsil Stadium completed the long-awaited matchup between two top native aces in baseball history. This is because Doosan Bears' Kwak Bin (27) and Kiwoom Heroes' An Woo-jin (27) are set to face off as starting pitchers. Their regular-season starting matchup marks the first time this has ever occurred. The two had previously met once during the 2021 Wild Card deciding game.

The 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League match between Kiwoom Heroes and Doosan Bears, originally scheduled to take place at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 28th, was officially canceled at 5:40 p.m. due to heavy rain and field conditions.

Despite thorough inspection of the field by Game Manager Kim Si-jin before the game began, the intensity of the rainfall led officials to determine that normal game operations were no longer possible.

Thanks to this rain-induced postponement, a massive blockbuster matchup has been realized at Jamsil Stadium over the weekend. The head-to-head confrontation between An Woo-jin and Kwak Bin — both right-handed fireballers and fellow 1999 draft class rookies representing the league — is now confirmed.

Earlier, Kiwoom manager Seol Jong-jin told reporters that if the game were canceled, he was considering starting An Woo-jin as the pitcher on the following day (the 29th), effectively delaying the ace's appearance by one day. Doosan had also already announced Kwak Bin as their starter for the 29th.

The momentum of both teams' aces this season is evenly matched.

Kiwoom's An Woo-jin has appeared in 18 games this season, recording 3 wins, 6 losses, an ERA of 3.39, and 101 strikeouts. Although his performance is still close to that of a rehabilitation season following surgery, evaluations suggest he is gradually returning to his prime form as the season progresses.

In response, Doosan's Kwak Bin has also excelled as the team's top starter, posting 10 wins and 5 losses in 23 games with an ERA of 2.33 and 161 strikeouts. Leveraging his powerful pitching and consistent game management, he has delivered 16 consecutive quality starts.

This is an unavoidable true battle between two close friends who were drafted together as first-round picks in 2018 and have also played together on the national team. Their regular-season starting matchup marks a historic first. However, they did face each other once during the 2021 Wild Card deciding game. An Woo-jin recorded 6⅓ innings with 9 strikeouts and 2 earned runs, while Kwak Bin pitched 4⅔ innings with 4 strikeouts and 1 earned run. The season's most exciting matchup — a pride-driven starting duel between An Woo-jin and Kwak Bin gifted by the rain — will take place at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 29th.

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*This content was translated by AI.