▲ Raul Alcantara of the Doosan Bears pitches against the NC Dinos in Game 1 of the Korean Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 17, 2020. (Yonhap)
▲ Drew Rucinski of the NC Dinos pitches against the Doosan Bears in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 4 of the Korean Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 21, 2020. (Yonhap)

Korean Series-starters

Rucinski looking to pitch Dinos to Korean Series title in Game 6

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- NC Dinos' right-hander Drew Rucinski already has a win and a save in this year's Korean Series. Another win on Tuesday will give his team the coveted championship.

With his Dinos leading the Doosan Bears 3-2 in the best-of-seven Korean Series, Rucinski will start Game 6 set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.

Rucinski has a tough act to follow, after left-hander Koo Chang-mo twirled seven scoreless innings in a 5-0 victory in Monday's Game 5.

The Bears will counter with right-hander Raul Alcantara, who will try to keep the team's repeat hopes alive. The Bears have won three of the past five championships.

It will be a starting pitching rematch from Game 1 last Tuesday, with Rucinski earning the victory and Alcantara getting charged with the loss in NC's 5-3 win.

Rucinski pitched in relief in Saturday's Game 4, just three days after starting in Game 1, and he tossed 2 2/3 shutout innings to nail down a 3-0 victory.

He threw 39 pitches, and 30 of them went for strikes. It was a few more pitches than what the Dinos' manager Lee Dong-wook had in mind, but Rucinski told the team he wanted to finish off the game and Lee granted him that wish.

Now he'll be going after two days' rest, with the Dinos' first championship within grasp.

In his Game 1 victory, Rucinski gave up three runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings but only one of them was earned. He struck out four, walked three and hit one.

Alcantara pitched five innings and allowed four earned runs on seven hits in that opening game. He served up a home run to No. 8 hitter Aaron Altherr and also hit two batters.

No. 3 hitter Na Sung-bum went 3-for-3 with a double against Alcantara in that game. He had been 0-for-9 with six strikeouts against the right-hander in the regular season.

Alcantara will be pitching on six days' rest. But with their backs against the wall, the Bears will likely keep Alcantara on a short leash and relievers should be available to come in on a moment's notice.

The Bears used four relievers in Game 5 loss but saved their best arms for Game 6.

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