KBO's top 2 teams set for weekend clash
KT Wiz players celebrate their 3-1 win over the SSG Landers in the clubs' Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Incheon SSG Landers Field in the western city of Incheon, Sunday. Courtesy of KT Wiz
The top two clubs in the Korean baseball standings will be on a collision course for a crucial weekend series, as the battle for the regular-season title is heating up.
The KT Wiz are clinging to first place in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) with a win-loss-tie record of 64-41-3, one game ahead of the Samsung Lions (65-44-2). Both clubs have won two straight games.
These two rivals will square off for a three-game set starting Friday at the Lions' home, Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu.
The Wiz have been worse against the Lions than any other opponent this season, with a 3-8-0 mark.
The Lions will try to climb to the top of the standings before that crucial weekend clash. They will begin the new week with a three-game series against last-place Kiwoom Heroes (42-72-2) at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.
The Wiz will host fifth-place Doosan Bears (58-50-4) for three games at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of the capital, from Tuesday to Thursday.
With the top five teams qualifying for the postseason, there is some separation between the upper echelon and the bottom five of the league. The Bears enjoy an eight-game lead over sixth-ranked Lotte Giants (50-58-2), with the Hanwha Eagles (49-57-3) and the NC Dinos (48-56-2) right behind the Giants.
The Bears, meanwhile, trail fourth-place Kia Tigers (60-52-2) by one game. And the Tigers are a half-game behind the LG Twins (61-50-1) for third place.
The Tigers suffered a stunning, 8-7 defeat to the Heroes on Sunday, when they served up six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning with Kim Jae-hyun delivering a two-out, walk-off grand slam.
The Tigers will try to regroup during their six-game homestand this week — three against the Giants and three more against ninth-ranked SSG Landers (45-64-5).
Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong is closing in on a home run milestone. With his league-leading total of 38 homers, Kim needs to hit two more dingers by Sept. 6 to become the youngest player in KBO history to launch 40 home runs in a season.
The current record is held by former Lions slugger Lee Seung-yuop, who hit his 40th homer of the 1999 season at 22 years, 11 months and five days old. Kim turns 23 on Oct. 2.
The Twins, the KBO's worst team since July 1 with a 12-20-1 record, will try to fend off the Tigers with games against opponents in the bottom half of the standings — the Dinos from Tuesday to Thursday and then the Giants from Friday to Sunday.