The race for the final standings in baseball is on.
The LG Twins are favored to win the regular season title. They have a 5.5-game lead over second-place KT Wiz with 11 days to go. Assuming LG wins 15 of their remaining 25 games, KT would need to go 19-3 to overtake them. There are also only three head-to-head games between the two teams. It’s virtually impossible to overturn.
The race for second place with a direct playoff berth is tight. Second-place KT and third-place NC Dinos are separated by just 0.5 games, followed by the KIA Tigers, who are two games behind. The SSG Landers are also within half a game of KIA. It’s a very close race that could change in two or three games.
The variable is ‘schedule’. The KBO has been playing unscheduled and reserve games since the 12th. Unlike the three-game series twice a week, games are held at irregular intervals. This jagged schedule makes it difficult for players to stay in the game. The doubleheaders, coupled with frequent traveling, put a heavy physical strain on the players. For now, KT will leave Suwon this week for a six-game road trip that will take them to Incheon, Changwon, Daegu, and Daejeon.
Starting on the 22nd, the KBO will be without players competing in the Hangzhou Asian Games. Most of these players have big roles, so each team is bound to have a power leak.
The head-to-head matches between rival teams are literally ‘life and death’ affairs. On the 12th in Incheon, SSG and KT fought hard with Kim Kwang-hyun and Wes Benjamin in the starting lineup. KT also pulled out the Go-Young-pyo card against NC. NC will start Tanner Tully.스포츠토토
Here, the 6th-ranked Doosan Bears are looking for a last-minute comeback. Doosan trails fifth-place SSG by two games. This week, they face SSG (13th and 14th) and KIA (15th and 17th). This is their chance to leapfrog SSG and KIA and move into fifth place. Doosan is in good form with four wins in a row, including an 8-3 victory over Hanwha on the 12th.