Surging Giants to take on KBO-leading Wiz
Lotte Giants players celebrate their 5-2 win over the SSG Landers after a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Incheon SSG Landers Field in the western city of Incheon, Sunday. Courtesy of Lotte Giants
Riding their season high four-game winning streak, the surging Lotte Giants will look to keep the good times rolling against the top club in Korean baseball this season.
The Giants will visit the KT Wiz for a midweek three-game set starting Tuesday at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The Giants swept the SSG Landers in their three-game weekend series to open the new month of May after beating the Kiwoom Heroes on the final day of April.
The Giants were the last team in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) to reach 10 wins this season, and now their record is at 12-17-1 (wins-losses-ties), eighth place among 10 clubs.
During their current streak, the Giants have won all four games in come-from-behind fashion, displaying the kind of resilience that was missing at the onset of the season.
In their sweep of the Landers, the Giants rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win 10-7 on Friday before erasing 2-0 deficits on Saturday and again on Sunday to win 7-5 and 5-2, respectively.
The Giants' mettle will be tested against the Wiz (21-10-0), the only team this season not to have lost more than two games in a row.
The Wiz have scored more runs than any team so far with 178 in 31 games. The Giants, on the other hand, rank last in runs with 108 after 30 games. The Wiz are at or near the top in other offensive categories, while the Giants are either last or close to it.
Doosan Bears players celebrate after beating the Samsung Lions 8-5 after their Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
It will bear watching if the Giants' feeble offense — their weekend surge notwithstanding — can get anything going against the Wiz's pitching staff, among the KBO's best in ERA, quality starts and strikeouts, among others.
Elsewhere in the KBO this week, the LG Twins (19-11-0) and the Doosan Bears (14-16-1) will clash for their annual Children's Day series at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, beginning Tuesday. The Twins trail the Wiz by 1 1/2 games in second place, and the Bears are tied for fifth with the NC Dinos (14-16-0) and the Kia Tigers (14-16-1).
The Twins and the Bears, who share Jamsil as their home, have a three-game series scheduled around the May 5 Children's Day each year.
Also this week, the third-place Landers (17-13-0) will try to pick up the pieces after getting swept by the Giants and will host the Dinos beginning Tuesday to close out their six-game homestand in the western city of Incheon. After that, the Landers will visit the Bears at Jamsil.
The Samsung Lions (15-14-1), 1 1/2 games behind the Landers, will bring home the last-place Kiwoom Heroes (12-19-0) to the southeastern city of Daegu starting Tuesday, before visiting Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, for a weekend series against the Dinos.
The Eagles (12-18-0) are desperately trying to stay out of the league cellar, as they're currently a half game up on the Heroes. They suffered a stunning 7-6 loss to the Lions on Sunday, when reliever Jack Cushing served up a walkoff, three-run home run to Lewin Diaz in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The Eagles have a road series against the Tigers and then a home date with the Twins. They will have to do so without three starting pitchers. Owen White has been out since early April with a hamstring injury, and Wilkel Hernandez (elbow) and Moon Dong-ju (shoulder) joined him on the sidelines on Saturday.
The Eagles own the third-best road record in the league at 8-5-0 but have the worst home record at 4-13.