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KBO-leading Twins looking to stretch new winning streak this week

Published: 07 Apr. 2025, 11:44

The LG Twins celebrate winning a KBO game against the Hanwha Eagles at Jamsil Basebal Stadium in southern Seoul on March 27. [NEWS1]

After their seven-game winning streak to start the 2025 KBO season ended last week, the LG Twins dusted themselves off and began a new run.

The Twins fell to the KT Wiz 9-5 last Wednesday for their first loss of the year and responded with a 5-1 victory the next day. Then with a sweep of the defending champions Kia Tigers in a rain-interrupted, two-game set over the weekend, the Twins have now won three straight games, tied for the longest active streak in the league.

With a league-best record of 10-1-0, they also became the first team to reach 10 wins this season.

According to the KBO, teams that beat everyone else to the 10-win mark in previous seasons won the pennant about 40 percent of the time and captured the Korean Series title about 29 percent of the time.

But get to the 20-win milestone first, and the odds of winning the regular-season title jump to nearly 64 percent, while those for taking the Korean Series championship rise to 50 percent.

The Twins remain the best pitching team in the league, leading all clubs with a 2.39 ERA, opponents' batting average of .190, and 1.00 in walks and hits per inning pitched. They also received key reinforcement in the bullpen as free agent acquisition Jang Hyun-sik made his season debut Friday after recovering from an ankle injury in spring training.

The Seoul-based Twins will enjoy homecooking this week, with all six of their games in the capital.

They will first visit the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul for the midweek series from Tuesday to Thursday. Then from Friday to Sunday, the Twins will host their co-tenants at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, the Doosan Bears, for their first meeting of 2025.

Doosan Bears infielder Yang Suk-hwan, right, celebrates after hitting a homerun during a KBO game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on April 2. [YONHAP]

The Heroes have cooled off after a surprising start and have lost two straight games to drop to 5-8-0.

The Bears are at 6-7-0 after enjoying a wild, 15-12 win over the Lotte Giants on Sunday — their first win on a Sunday since May 12, 2024.

Elsewhere in the KBO this week, the SSG Landers, in second place at 7-3-0, will visit third-ranked Samsung Lions, who are 8-5-0, for their first meeting of the season beginning Tuesday in Daegu.

The Landers boast the best bullpen ERA in the league at 1.58 and they are a perfect 5-0-0 when they have the lead in the seventh inning.

However, they are at or near the bottom in several offensive categories, including batting average, runs, hits, home runs and on-base plus slugging.

The Lions have been winning games with their bats. They lead the KBO with 18 home runs, 91 runs scored and 125 hits — 50 more hits than the Landers.

Yonhap