LG Twins narrow gap at top of KBO as SSG Landers start to wobble

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LG Twins narrow gap at top of KBO as SSG Landers start to wobble

LG Twins infielder Moon Bo-gyeong celebrates with coach Kim Ho after hitting a solo home run at the the top of the eighth inning during a game against the KT Wiz at Suwon KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Friday. [YONHAP]

LG Twins infielder Moon Bo-gyeong celebrates with coach Kim Ho after hitting a solo home run at the the top of the eighth inning during a game against the KT Wiz at Suwon KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Friday. [YONHAP]

 
The gap has narrowed at the top of the KBO for the first time in months as the dominant SSG Landers struggled with just one win over three series in the last week, although rain cancellations did wreak havoc with game schedules across the country.
 
The Landers’ sole win came against the seventh-place NC Dinos on Friday, splitting the two-game series with a 5-3 victory after losing 3-2 in the opening game.
 
The Dinos series was sandwiched between two rain-interrupted matchups, with the Landers losing 2-1 to the eighth-place Samsung Lions on Wednesday after missing Tuesday’s game, and losing 2-1 to the third-place Kiwoom Heroes on Saturday with Sunday’s game also cancelled.
 
The second-place LG Twins and third-place Heroes, meanwhile, saw a very different turn of form, winning all of their games over the past week to narrow the gap between first and second to four games. The Heroes regained third place, now 10 games behind the Landers, having slipped back to fourth last week.
 
The Twins started their week with a 5-3 win over the Dinos on Wednesday, having missed Tuesday’s game due to rain, before sweeping the fourth-place KT Wiz — 3-1, 2-1 — and beating the sixth-place Lotte Giants 14-1 on Sunday after a rain cancellation on Saturday.
 
The Heroes also faced the Giants this week, sweeping them on Tuesday and Wednesday — 6-5, 5-4 — before breezing past the 10th-place Hanwha Eagles on Thursday and Friday — 7-1, 4-0. With the win over the Landers on Saturday, the Heroes ended their week with a league-leading five wins.
 
 
The two losses to the Twins marred an otherwise strong week for the Wiz, who beat the ninth-place Doosan Bears 5-2 on Wednesday after a rain cancellation on Tuesday. The Suwon club bounced back following the Twins series to take a sweep of their own over the weekend, beating the fifth-place Kia Tigers — 5-1, 6-2 — on the road.
 
That series capped off a disappointing week for the Tigers, who started things off with a 4-3 win over the Hanwha Eagles on Wednesday after yet another rain cancellation on Tuesday, but then split their midweek series with the Lions — 1-4, 8-3.
 
At the other end of the table, the Giants and Bears split their midweek series, with the Bears taking Thursday’s game 2-1 and the Giants responding with a resounding 16-4 win on Friday.
 
The Bears poor form continued into the weekend, when the Seoul club lost 4-1 to the Lions on Saturday and were unable to play due to rain on Sunday.
 
The final series of the weekend saw the Eagles pull through with an unexpected sweep of the Dinos, taking two big wins — 7-3, 10-1 — to round off the week.
 
The KBO returns on Tuesday, although in practice it is highly likely that the arrival of Typhoon Hinnamnor will disrupt the majority of games.  
 
The typhoon, which authorities say could be the biggest storm to hit Korea on record, is expected to hit Busan on Tuesday. Although no games are scheduled in the city, the Bears are set to face the Dinos in nearby Changwon, South Gyeongsang, and the Tigers are taking on the Giants just up the coast in Ulsan.
 
With no games scheduled at Gocheok Sky Dome, the only covered dome in Korea, all other games could well be affected. The Heroes are set to take on the Lions in Daegu, while the Eagles head north to visit the Wiz in Suwon, Gyeonggi and the Landers head to Seoul to face the Bears.

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