Eagles trying to chase down Twins at top of KBO standings

Hanwha Eagles closer Kim Seo-hyeon, right, celebrates with catcher Lee Jae-won after the Eagles beat the Kiwoom Heroes 10-5 in a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon, Sept. 13. Courtesy of the Eagles

With the 2025 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season down to the final two weeks, the Hanwha Eagles are trying to do something that was thought unthinkable at the start of September: overtake the LG Twins for first place.

The Eagles entered September trailing the Twins by 5 1/2 games. But as the Twins began showing some cracks in their armor after the calendar flipped, the Eagles made up some ground. They got to within 2 1/2 games Saturday before falling behind by 3 1/2 games Sunday with 12 games to go. The Eagles are now 76-53-3 (wins-losses-ties), while the Twins are 80-50-3.

Due to an earlier rainout, the Eagles will be forced to play Monday, typically a leaguewide off day. They are now two days into a stretch of playing eight consecutive days.

After wrapping up a three-game home series in the central city of Daejeon against the Kiwoom Heroes on Monday, the Eagles will travel to the southern city of Gwangju for three against the Kia Tigers, before moving up to Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, for a pair against the KT Wiz.

The Twins only have four games this week with little travel. They will play the Wiz in Suwon from Tuesday to Thursday before hosting the Samsung Lions in Seoul on Saturday.

If history is any indication, the odds will be stacked against the Eagles.

The Twins became the first club to win 80 games this season Sunday. On 20 previous occasions, teams that reached the 80-win mark first have won the regular-season crown 19 times and captured the Korean Series titles on 15 occasions.

The Eagles hold a comfortable, 8 1/2-game lead over the third-place SSG Landers (66-60-4), and it appears unlikely they will fall out of second place at this point.

The Landers lead the way for the crowded middle class, with five clubs very much alive in pursuit of the last three postseason spots.

The Wiz (66-63-4) trail the Landers by 1 1/2 games in fourth place. The Lions (66-65-2) are holding down the final spot, sitting one game back of the Wiz.

Then it's the Lotte Giants in sixth, a half game back at 64-64-6, and the NC Dinos in seventh, 1 1/2 games back at 61-63-6.

The Kia Tigers (61-66-4) are three games out. The 2024 Korean Series champions played .500 ball last week and gained only a half game on fifth place. Though they still have 13 games to play, their hopes of defending the crown are fading quickly.