Fifth place uncertain as some teams play catch-up

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) schedule gets complex this week as teams play make-up games previously cancelled due to rain.

With less than 20 games left in the regular season, what’s still unknown is the fifth place team who will earn the wild card for the playoffs.

Currently, No. 5 is taken by the Lotte Giants, but the Kia Tigers are only .001 winning percentage point behind them in sixth place. The No. 7 Hanwha Eagles are 1.5 games and No. 8 SK Wyverns are two games just behind the Giants.

In what could be the critical week to defend their ranking, the Giants begin the week by playing a three-game away series against the Doosan Bears, before hosting the Wyverns. After taking a day off on Saturday, the Giants then meet the No.1 Samsung Lions. The problem for the Giants is that they don’t have a good head-to-head record against these teams so far this season.

The Tigers have a critical two-game series against the Eagles from Tuesday at home in Gwangju. They then face the league-bottom KT Wiz on Thursday and have a three-game series against the Wyverns in Incheon starting on Saturday.

The Eagles meet the No. 2 NC Dinos and No. 3 Bears this week after clashing against the Tigers, while the Wyverns have a tough start this week as they have a three-game away series against the Lions.

Another race to watch is the fourth place competition between the Nexen Heroes and Doosan Bears. The Heroes last week stole third place from the Bears.

BY JOO KYUNG-DON [joo.kyungdon@joongang.co.kr]