The fifth-ranked Doosan Bears of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) will take on third-ranked KT and fourth-ranked NC in a six-game series at home in Jamsil this week to test the waters for fall baseball.
This week’s professional baseball games are scheduled for midweek (Aug. 15-17) with KT-Dusan (Jamsil), Hanwha-NC (Changwon), LG-Samsung (Daegu), Kiwoom-KIA (Gwangju), and SSG-Lotte (Busan).
The three-game series on the weekend (Nov. 18-20) will feature NC-Dusan (Jamsil), KIA-Samsung (Daegu), KT-Hanwha (Daejeon), LG-SSG (Incheon), and Lotte-Kiwoom (Gocheok).
For Doosan, this week is both a chance to bounce back and a chance to widen the gap between themselves and their rivals in the standings.
After an 11-game winning streak from July 1-25, the longest in franchise history, Doosan has struggled since, going 5-11.
The team has slipped from third place to fifth.
As of Thursday, Doosan was three games behind third-place KT and one game behind fourth-place NC.
Doosan has been struggling lately, with their best catcher, Yang Ji-won, on the disabled list with a sore side, and their starting lineup in collective disarray.
A ‘comeback’ is possible if they rack up wins against KT and NC. On the other hand, the fifth spot could be in jeopardy if the recent slump continues.
Doosan has split their series with KT this season with five wins, six losses, and one draw, and with NC with five wins and five losses.
Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop has said throughout the season that “the real test comes in the second half.” The upcoming six-game series in Jamsil against a ranking rival could be the “second half of the season” he was referring to.
LG, SSG to play three-game weekend series… Leadership or return to competition?
The LG Twins are on a five-game winning streak and have established themselves as the dominant force in the 2023 Korean Baseball Organization (KBO).
If the second-place SSG Landers, who are six games behind LG, lose this weekend’s three-game home series against LG at SSG Landers Field in Incheon, the race for first place could effectively end.
SSG, which held the top spot from the opening game to the end of the season last year, winning the wire-to-wire regular season title and the Korean Series, has maintained a strong winning percentage of 0.573 (55 wins, 41 losses, 1 draw) as of the 14th.
However, this is not enough for SSG, which is aiming to win the overall title for the second consecutive year.
What’s more, SSG’s mind is even more urgent as LG has a staggering 61 wins, 35 losses, and 2 draws (0.635 winning percentage).
SSG is 3-6 in their head-to-head matchups with LG this season.
Having been particularly weak against top teams this season, including LG, kt wiz (4-8) and NC Dinos (3-7), SSG has grown wary of losing to a “potential postseason opponent”.안전놀이터
SSG defeated LG 6-4 in the first game of the second half (July 21). Games on July 22 and 23 were canceled due to rain.
SSG ace Kim Kwang-hyun, who got the start against LG on July 21, will make one start in the three-game series this weekend.