Seoul: Having won seven straight games to climb to second place in South Korean baseball, the KT Wiz will now eye a return to the top spot this week. The Wiz were in third place before the All-Star break in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) last week, 3 1/2 games behind second-place LG Twins. And then the Wiz swept the Twins in their four-game series coming out of the midseason break and now find themselves ranked second with a 51-35-1 (wins-losses-ties) record, two games behind the league-leading Samsung Lions (53-33-2).
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Wiz will open the new week with a three-game series at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of Seoul, against fifth-place Doosan Bears (47-42-2), who most recently won three games straight. The Wiz will then travel to the southeastern city of Busan for a three-game set against eighth-ranked Lotte Giants (39-47-2). The Wiz last held sole possession of first place on May 17.
The Twins, the 2025 Korean Series champions, will try to snap their season-worst five-game losing streak against a pair of struggling clubs this week. The Twins will first take on seventh-place NC Dinos (40-45-1) and then face No. 6 Hanwha Eagles (40-43-3). Both the Dinos and the Eagles have dropped three consecutive games.
The Eagles were dealt a big injury blow Monday, with their top slugger Kang Baek-ho hitting the sidelines with a left oblique injury. The Eagles said they will remove Kang from the active roster and he will be reevaluated at a later date, with no timeline set for his return. Kang leads the KBO with 86 RBIs and is tied for third with 23 home runs. He is batting .315, top on his team and ninth-best mark in the KBO.
The Lions, who have won eight of their past 10 contests, will spend this week in Seoul. They will first visit last-place Kiwoom Heroes (32-57-2) at Gocheok Sky Dome and then face the Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium for the weekend series.
With the Twins suddenly reeling, the Kia Tigers, in fourth place at 48-40-2, will try to apply more pressure on the defending champions. A three-game winning streak has put the Tigers within 3 1/2 games of the Twins, and the Tigers will play the Eagles and then the Heroes this week.
The Heroes, who finished in last place in each of the past three seasons, are desperately trying to move out of the cellar this year. Having won three straight, they are now just one game back of ninth-place SSG Landers (32-55-3), who have lost three in a row. Since May 17, the start of their franchise-worst 13-game losing skid, the Landers have had the worst record in the KBO at 10-37-2.