Cracks start to show as LG Twins lose three in a row

Baseball

Published: 28 Aug. 2023, 15:28 Updated: 28 Aug. 2023, 16:50

Cracks start to show as LG Twins lose three in a row

LG Twins starter Im Chan-kyu pitches in the first inning of a game against the NC Dinos at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, South Gyeongsang on Sunday. [YONHAP]

The LG Twins managed just one win in four games over the last week, falling victim to an NC Dinos sweep as cracks start to show in the Seoul club’s dominance.

The Twins’ lead has been cut from seven games to 4.5 games over the last week, with the second-place KT Wiz riding a run of good form to pull increasingly close to the league leaders.

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Rain cancelations stopped the Twins’ first two games of the week, with a 4-1 win over the Lotte Giants the only midweek action the club got.

Moving into the weekend, a massive 14-1 drubbing at the hands of the fourth-place Dinos kicked off what turned out to be a very bad weekend in Changwon, North Gyeongsang for the Twins, with a 7-5 loss on Saturday and 5-3 loss on Sunday cementing the sweep.

The Dinos were one of four teams to pull off a sweep this week. The sixth-place Doosan Bears brought down the 10th-place Kiwoom Heroes in three games — 6-1, 11-4, 8-6 — in the only midweek series that was not interrupted by rain, with both the Wiz and the fifth-place Kia Tigers going on to pick up sweeps over the weekend.

In what has become typical of the Wiz over the last few weeks, the Suwon, Gyeonggi club did just enough to edge out the Giants, winning 3-1 on Friday, 8-6 on Saturday and 2-1 on Sunday. The Tigers, meanwhile, went for a more decisive approach, beating the ninth-place Hanwha Eagles: 4-1, 12-4, 5-2.

The third-place SSG Landers had a better week, winning three of their four games after a very up-and-down spell that saw them cede second to the Wiz earlier this month.

With rain also interrupting their series, the Landers managed a 7-4 win over the Dinos on Thursday before going on to lose 10-1 to the Bears on Friday. The reigning champions rallied, coming back to beat Doosan 7-5, 8-5 to take the weekend series.

Prior to their weekend sweep the Wiz split the two midweek games they managed to play with the Tigers, winning the opener 8-4 on Tuesday but losing 7-3 when the series resumed on Thursday.

The eighth-place Samsung Lions and Eagles rounded off the midweek action, playing just one game on Tuesday — the Lions won 5-2 — before rain interrupted the rest of the series.

The Landers also won over the weekend, beating the Heroes two games to one with a 7-4 loss on Friday, a 6-5 win on Saturday and an 8-6 win in the rubber match on Sunday.

With just over 30 games remaining for the majority of clubs there is still a fair amount of uncertainty remaining over the final standing as the disparity between number of games played remains significant.

The Heroes, playing out of the only covered dome in the league, have played 119 games, eight more than any other clubs. They also have eight more losses than any other club, making it highly unlikely that they will climb out of last place this year.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Tigers have only played 104 games, the Dinos 106 games and the Landers and Eagles 10-7 games. The Twins, Bears, and Giants have each played 108 games, with the Lions on 110 and the Wiz on 111.

That disparity could cause some last minute upsets when the league starts rescheduling canceled games in a couple of weeks, especially as the second-place Wiz have played four more games than the third-place Landers and the Tigers keep a few games in hand as they fight with the Bears and Dinos for the final playoff spots.

The KBO returns Tuesday with a midweek Jamsil derby as the Bears take on the Twins, while the Wiz host the Lions in Suwon. The Heroes travel west to face the Landers in Incheon, the Dinos visit the Tigers in Gwangju and the Eagles and Giants face off in Daejeon.

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