Landers hold on to slim lead as Twins, Bears and Giants inch up

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Landers hold on to slim lead as Twins, Bears and Giants inch up

Published: 24 Apr. 2023, 16:42 Updated: 24 Apr. 2023, 17:39

Doosan Bears outfielder Yang Chan-yeol runs the bases after hitting a two-run triple at the bottom of the seventh inning in a game against the KT Wiz at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Friday. [YONHAP]

It was a good week for the LG Twins, Doosan Bears and Lotte Giants, with the three veteran clubs winning both their series to take second, third and fourth place in the KBO while the SSG Landers held on to first.

The Twins, Bears and Giants — three of the five remaining teams that have been around since the KBO was launched in 1982 — were the only teams to win both their series this week, with the Twins briefly taking first before getting knocked back down on Sunday.

The Twins started off the week with a 6-4 loss to the NC Dinos, before rallying to take four wins in a row — 7-5, 9-4 against the Dinos and 4-2, 3-0 against the Hanwha Eagles. A tight 7-6 loss to the Eagles on Sunday knocked the Seoul club from first to second, but the dominant week set LG up to continue to challenge for first.

Doosan had a similar week, beating the Eagles 2-0 on Tuesday only to lose 7-6 on Wednesday and take Thursday 5-1. The Bears looked more dominant moving into the weekend, beating the KT Wiz 10-6, 5-1 on Friday and Saturday, only to narrowly miss out on the sweep with a 1-1 tie on Sunday.

The Giants, meanwhile, were the only of the three to manage a sweep, squeaking past local rivals the Dinos over the weekend, 3-2, 10-6, 5-2. Earlier in the week they beat the Kia Tigers by two games to one, 7-6, 0-6, 5-3.

The first place Landers lost their midweek series to the Wiz, dropping Tuesday and Wednesday’s games, 4-2, 5-2, before kicking off a four-game winning streak to beat KT 8-5 on Thursday and then edge out the Kiwoom Heroes over the weekend: 3-1, 3-2, 9-7.

Elsewhere in the league, the Samsung Lions beat the Heroes with two games to one in the week, 6-4, 9-5, 1-6, only to be swept apart by the Tigers over the weekend. The two clubs — the other two remaining KBO founding teams — were jostling for eighth place, with the Tigers winning 5-4, 6-2, 5-3 to take the series.

While that series had little impact on the KBO standings, it did impact the KBO history books. Kia Tigers outfielder Choi Hyoung-woo hit his career 465th double on Sunday, breaking the KBO record of 464 set by Samsung Lions legend Lee Seung-yuop, now the manager of the Doosan Bears.

An image of Kia Tigers outfielder Choi Hyoung-woo is shown on the scoreboard at Gwangju Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on Sunday. Choi hit the 465th double of his career during the game against the Samsung Lions, setting a new KBO record. [YONHAP]

The KBO returns Tuesday with an interesting matchup as the first-place Landers take on the second-place Twins at the Seoul team’s home in Jamsil, southern Seoul, while the third-place Bears take on the Lions in Daegu and the fourth-place Giants face the Eagles at home in Busan. The Dinos and Tigers play each other in Gwangju, and the Heroes host the Wiz in western Seoul.

Moving into the weekend, it’s the turn of the Bears to take on the Landers on the road in Incheon, while the Twins face the Tigers at Jamsil and the Giants and Heroes face off in Busan. The Lions head to Suwon to take on the Wiz and the Dinos and Eagles face off in Daejeon.

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