Busan: Two of the best clubs in South Korean baseball will square off for three games starting Tuesday, with the top spot in the league at stake. The Lotte Giants, currently tied for second in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), will bring home the first-place LG Twins for the Tuesday-Thursday series at Sajik Baseball Stadium in the southeastern city of Busan.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Twins are leading the way at 30-16-0 (wins-losses-ties), but the Giants have pulled into a tie for second place at 28-18-2, two games behind the Twins, after sweeping the Samsung Lions at home in their three-game weekend series at Sajik. This is their first meeting since the opening weekend of the season on March 22-23. The Twins won both games then at their home, Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.
On Tuesday, the Giants will start right-hander Yoon Seong-pin, a former top prospect who has yet to live up to his hype out of high school in 2016. This will be Yoon's season debut. The 26-year-old went 2-0 with a 2.11 ERA in six minor-league games this season, recording 40 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings. The Twins had their six-game winning streak snapped last week and lost two out of three against the KT Wiz over the weekend.
This week won't get any easier for the Giants after playing the Twins. They will travel north to the central city of Daejeon to take on the Hanwha Eagles, currently tied with the Giants in second place at 28-18-0, for a three-game set from Friday to Sunday. The Eagles have cooled off after seeing their season-best winning streak come to an end at 12 games Tuesday. They went on to lose four of their next five games the rest of the week.
The Giants are chasing their first postseason berth since 2017, while the Eagles haven't been to the postseason dance since 2018. The last time they both reached the postseason was 1999. These two teams are also famous for their loyal, if aggrieved, fan bases. Through Sunday, the Eagles led the KBO with 22 sellouts at their brand-new stadium with a capacity of 17,000, and they are working on a league-record 18 consecutive sellouts. The Giants are fourth overall with 14 sellouts and with an average of 19,580 fans per game at the 22,665-seat Sajik Baseball Stadium.