Contenders' late push adding intrigue to KBO pennant race

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- The pennant race in South Korean baseball is getting more intriguing by the day, with one club making a late push for first place and another trying to squeeze past a struggling rival for the final postseason spot.

The LG Twins are trying to reignite the regular season title race in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) that many thought was over. By shutting down the KT Wiz 2-0 on Thursday night, the Twins moved within three games of the SSG Landers, who fell to the NC Dinos 6-0 the same day.

And thanks to that victory over the first-place team, the Dinos are now within 2.5 games of the Kia Tigers for the fifth and final playoff berth. The Tigers suffered the fourth consecutive loss Thursday, falling to the Hanwha Eagles 2-1.

The Landers won their 80th game of the season Wednesday, becoming the first KBO team this year to reach that mark. In KBO regular season history, the first team to 80 victories has gone on to finish in first place 16 out of 17 times.

That lone exception happened to the Landers' previous incarnation, the SK Wyverns, in 2019. That was the year when the Wyverns, then the defending champions, famously blew a nine-game lead to the Doosan Bears down the stretch and got caught on the final day of the regular season.

The 2022 Landers still have a few players left from that 2019 squad, and their play of late may just be bringing them a case of deja vu.

Since Aug. 1, the Landers have a 17-16-1 (wins-losses-ties) record, just the fifth best in the league. The Twins have the best winning percentage in that span at 21-10-1, followed by the Dinos at 20-13.

Over that stretch, the Twins and the Dinos have been the two-best hitting teams, and two of the three-best pitching teams.

The Twins also have four games in hand on the Landers, which could make the race to the top even more interesting come early October when teams will be scrambling to play makeup games all over the country.

The Landers have spent the entire season in first place. They are trying to become the first team in KBO history to go wire-to-wire for the regular season crown. The Landers and the Twins meet one last time in the regular season on Sept. 25. The Landers have an 8-6-1 edge so far in head-to-head meetings this year.

The Dinos, meanwhile, have played three fewer games than the Tigers, and the two rivals will square off in a do-or-die three-game series starting next Thursday. The Tigers hold the season series advantage so far at 7-6.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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