Baseball’s final standings battle heats up
SSG is heating up the battle for third place in the 2023 Korean Baseball Organization. On June 6, SSG defeated Hanwha 7-2 at home in Incheon to extend its winning streak to six games. Choi Jeong (36), the No. 3 hitter, hit a solo home run in the first inning off opposing starter Lee Tae-yang. After leading off the game with a double in the bottom of the first inning, Choi came up to bat in the top of the third inning with a 4-0 lead and again smashed a solo shot over the left field fence. With the two home runs, Choi (28-2) closed the gap on Hanwha’s Noh Si-hwan (31-1), who is competing in the Hangzhou Asian Games, to three. SSG starter Moon Seung-won (34) pitched six innings of two-run ball (seven hits and two walks) to earn his fifth win of the season (7-1).
SSG improved to 8-2-1 in its last 11 games. They moved from a tie for fourth to sole possession of fourth place in the standings (71 wins, 63 losses, 3 ties, 0.5298 winning percentage), with no points separating them from third-place Doosan (70 wins, 62 losses, 2 ties, 0.530 winning percentage). Fifth-place NC (70W63L2D-0.526) has lost six straight games, including three straight to SSG, after holding onto third place for nearly a month. Only 0.5 games separate third and fifth place.스포츠토토
Samsung beat second-place KT 6-2 in Suwon. Koo Ja-woo, 30, led the offense with a 3-for-4 performance, including a one-run homer in the eighth inning. Closer Oh Seung-hwan pitched a scoreless ninth inning with a 6-2 lead to preserve the win. It was not a save situation as he came in with a four-run lead, but he is one save away from becoming the first pitcher in Korean baseball history to record 400 career saves.
In Jamsil, sixth-ranked KIA came from behind to beat first-place LG 3-2. Trailing 0-2, they scored three runs in the eighth inning on four hits and a walk.
Earlier in the day, the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) announced the schedule for the remaining games (Nov. 11-17) that had been canceled due to rain. Third-place Doosan has the most games remaining among the 10 teams, with eight games against KT-Lotte-NC-KIA-LG (two games) and SSG (two games) from Nov. 10-17 without a break. In the final week of the regular season, fifth-place NC has two days off and fourth-place SSG has three days off, which is relatively favorable for “catching your breath. This year’s postseason will kick off with a wildcard matchup between the 4th and 5th place teams on the 19th.