KBO’s top five clubs increase lead ahead of All-Star break

Baseball

Published: 11 Jul. 2022, 15:38 Updated: 11 Jul. 2022, 15:47

KBO’s top five clubs increase lead ahead of All-Star break

Choi Ji-hoon, front, and Choo Shin-soo of the SSG Landers celebrate in the dugout after coming home on a two-run double from Choi Jeong during a game against the Samsung Lions in Daegu on Sunday. [YONHAP]

There's no change at the top of the KBO this week, with the top five clubs all winning their weekend series to extend their dominant lead over the bottom half of the table.

The first-place SSG Landers, second-place Kiwoom Heroes, third-place LG Twins and fifth-place Kia Tigers all swept their weekend series, further widening the gap between fifth and sixth place to a big five and a half games. The fourth-place KT Wiz also won their series, but allowed a consolation game.

The Landers swept the eighth-place Samsung Lions — 9-8, 13-10, 7-2 — extending the Lions' losing streak to nine games while holding on to their increasingly slim 2.5 game lead at the top of the table.

The Heroes cruised past the ninth-place NC Dinos — 3-2, 10-1, 2-0 — bouncing back after losing a midweek series that saw the Twins move just 1.5 games behind them.

Over in Jamsil, southern Seoul, the Twins proved unstoppable in the Jamsil derby against stadium-mates Doosan Bears in a subway series so acutely localized that neither team actually has to ride the subway. The Twins won all three games — 11-4, 8-6, 9-0 — proving indisputably that for this season at least, the Twins are done playing second fiddle to the seventh-place Bears in Jamsil.

While the Wiz didn't manage a sweep over the sixth-place Lotte Giants, the Suwon, Gyeonggi club did emerge victorious over three surprisingly close games, winning the first two — 6-3, 3-1 — before taking a big 9-1 loss on Sunday.

The Tigers round off the top five with a sweep of their own, comfortably beating the 10th-place Hanwha Eagles — 5-3, 6-5, 6-3.

While all five clubs dominated over the weekend, only the Landers and Twins enjoyed such a dominant performance earlier in the week.

The Twins picked up the only sweep in last week's midweek series, beating the Lions in three close games — 4-1, 10-9, 11-9.

The Landers also won their series against the Giants, winning the opener 4-3 but then dropping the Wednesday game 12-5. The top-ranked team came back with a vengeance for the rubber match, winning 8-1 to take the series.

The Wiz and Tigers faced each other for what should have been a fierce fourth vs. fifth-place clash, but ended up being a bit of a damp squib — literally. Only one of the three games was actually playable, with rain stopping the Tuesday and Thursday games. KT won the Wednesday game 8-1.

The Heroes lost their midweek series to the Bears, winning the opening game 4-3 but then losing two in a row: 5-2, 4-2. The series win snapped a long losing streak for the Bears and helped them move up to seventh place.

The final midweek series saw the bottom two clubs face off, with the Dinos beating the Eagles with two games to one — 1-0, 4-3, 11-12.

The KBO will be back in action on Tuesday as the Landers take on the Heroes, the Twins face the Tigers, the Lions play the Wiz, the Eagles visit the Giants in Busan and the Bears and the Dinos face off in Changwon, South Gyeongsang.

Following those three-game series, the KBO will stop for the All-Star break. The Futures League All-Star game will be held on Friday, before the Dream All Star and Nanum All Star teams face off in the KBO All-Star game at 6 p.m. at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]