Weekend Picks

BASEBALL

Korea Baseball Organization

Doosan Bears at Kia Tigers

6:30 p.m. Friday, Gwangju-Kia Champions Field

With the Doosan Bears only 1.5 games behind the Kia Tigers and only a few games left in the regular season, the two teams face each other once more with the regular season pennant very much on the table.

Looking at the two team’s head-to-head record for the season, it’s difficult to predict who will come out on top, as they are tied at seven wins, one tie and seven losses each. Until Sept. 2, it seemed as if the Tigers were guaranteed the regular season win, as they were 5.5 games ahead of the Bears. But the Bears picked up a four-game winning streak and the Tigers lost two games, the Bears are once again in a position to catch up.

The Bears will have Chang Won-jun as their starting pitcher today for his chance to pick up his 13th win of the season. Throughout the season, Chang has picked up 12 wins and nine losses with 3.35 ERA in 27 games.

LG Twins at NC Dinos

5:00 p.m. Saturday, Masan Baseball Stadium

The stakes are high for the NC Dinos as they go into their game against the LG Twins on Saturday.

Until the middle of September the Dinos were comfortably in third place with a three-game lead over the Lotte Giants. After the Giants started to pick up pace, the Dinos now find themselves only 0.5 games ahead of the Giants with the possibility of slipping into the wildcard game.

Looking at the two’s head-to-head record this season, the Dinos are likely to dominate the Twins, as they are well ahead with ten wins and four losses.

Mo Chang-min will once again lead the Dinos’ batting lineup, with a 0.306 batting average, 17 home runs and 88 RBIs in 130 games this season.

Alongside Mo, Xavier Scruggs will lead the Dinos, having recently achieved 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in his first season in the KBO during the Dinos’ game against the Samsung Lions on Sept. 14.

Since the Twins have the most games remaining until the end of the regular season, at ten, there’s still a slim chance they could advance to the postseason, although they will need to win all remaining matches.

FOOTBALL

K League Classic

Pohang Steelers at FC Seoul

3:00 p.m. Sunday, Seoul World Cup Stadium

After a big 4-1 win against Gwangju FC at Gwangju World Cup Stadium on Wednesday, FC Seoul has another shot at heading to the upper tier in the K league Classic this season.

A win against Gwangju has finally allowed Seoul to end their no-win streak, where their record was at two ties and a loss. That said, Seoul is now only four points behind Suwon Samsung Bluewings, the fourth ranked team, by four points and has increased their possibility of earning a spot in the Asian Football Confederation’s champion’s league matches, which are given to the top three teams in the league.

Seoul’s success came from the younger players - midfielder Yoon Seung-won, defender Hwang Hyun-soo and goalkeeper Yang Han-been. During the match against Gwangju, Yoon scored a goal and an assist while Hwang scored a goal. Yang played in goal for the match.

With the help of three veterans - Dejan Dmjanovic, Park Chu-young and Kwak Tae-hwi - Seoul hopes to continue their stride by defeating Pohang on Sunday.