By Jung Min-ho

The top two teams in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) will face off this weekend and the result could go some way to determining the league title.

The Samsung Lions will host the Lotte Giants at the Daegu Baseball Stadium on Saturday and Sunday.

With 66 wins, 2 draws and 47 losses, defending champions the Lions were three games ahead of the Giants as of Friday morning.

After wrapping up the first half of the season atop the league, the Lions have had 21 wins and 16 losses since July. With only 18 matches remaining, the Giants’ have recorded a slightly better 22 wins and 15 losses and a sweep of the games for either side could play a major part in deciding who will finish first.

The Lions are marginally more favored with seven wins, one draw and six losses in meetings this season. Also, the visitors had to play the Kia Tigers in Gwangju Friday while Samsung had the night off. However, in the most recent fixtures Lotte have won two of the past three games.

When it comes to offense, the Lions seem stronger with a .272 team batting average and 84 home runs, whereas the Busan-based team bats .266 with 66 homers. But the Giants may have the edge in defense with a 3.34 ERA against 3.50.

Meanwhile, the SK Wyverns and the Doosan Bears are in a fierce battle for third and they have opened up a gap on the rest of the pack. The fourth-place Bears are trailing the Wyverns by just one game.