Eagles set to face KBO bottom feeders in bid to extend lead at top

Hanwha Eagles players celebrate their 5-2 win over the SSG Landers in a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, west of Seoul, June 28, in this photo provided by the Eagles. Yonhap

The Hanwha Eagles hold a one-game lead over the LG Twins atop the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) standings, despite winning just two of their past five games.

The Eagles will try to stretch their slim lead this week when they take on two of the league's bottom feeders.

The Eagles, with a 45-32-1 (wins-losses-ties) record, will host the eighth-place NC Dinos (35-37-4) for three games starting Tuesday in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers south of Seoul. The Eagles have gone 6-3-0 against the Dinos so far in 2025.

Then the Eagles will visit Seoul to face the last-place Kiwoom Heroes (25-54-3) from Friday to Sunday at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. The Eagles have won six of their seven meetings against the Heroes in 2025.

Both the Dinos and the Heroes are playing some solid baseball lately, though. The Dinos had the third-best record in June at 12-10-1 to stay within striking distance of a postseason spot.

The Heroes are coming off their first three-game sweep of this season after beating the Samsung Lions in three straight games at Gocheok by a combined score of 24-11. Heroes captain Song Sung-mun belted four home runs and drove in eight runs in those three games.

The Twins (44-33-2), after dropping two straight games against the surging Kia Tigers on the weekend, will be on a six-game road trip this week. They will first visit the third-place Lotte Giants (43-34-3) in Busan for three games, followed by three more against the reeling Lions (39-39-1) in Daegu.

The Tigers (41-35-3) posted the best record in June at 15-7-2 to climb from seventh to fourth in the standings. Now only 3 1/2 games out of first place, the Tigers have a six-game homestand coming up in Gwangju: three games against the SSG Landers (39-36-3) and then three against the Giants.

This will be the final full week before the annual All-Star break. Next week, teams will only play three games, from July 8 to 10, before hitting the pause button.

The All-Star Game is July 12 at the Eagles' brand-new home stadium, Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark. The season will resume July 17.