Landers hold on to comfortable lead as KBO hits halfway point

The SSG Landers, Kiwoom Heroes and LG Twins continue to maintain a strong grip on the top three spots as the KBO season passed the halfway point over the weekend.

Jeon Ui-san of the SSG Landers, right, rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning of a game against the NC Dinos at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Friday. The Landers played the weekend series in their Starbucks alternate uniform. [YONHAP]

The SSG Landers, Kiwoom Heroes and LG Twins continue to maintain a strong grip on the top three spots as the KBO season passed the halfway point over the weekend.

Further down the table there's a much tighter race going on between the fourth- to eighth-place teams, with just 2.5 games separating the KT Wiz in the No. 5 spot and the Lotte Giants in eighth place.

Fittingly, the top five teams have managed to maintain a .500 winning percentage over the last 10 games, with the Landers, Heroes and Twins all picking up seven wins and three losses.

In fact, the last 10 games perfectly match the current ranking, with the fourth-place Kia Tigers taking six wins and four losses, the fifth-place Wiz going five and five, and then the Samsung Lions, Doosan Bears and Giants recording four wins and six losses each. The only anomaly is the ninth-place NC Dinos, who managed to mix in one tie with four wins and five losses, while the last-place Hanwha Eagles have one win, one tie and eight losses.

The Heroes and the Landers were the only teams to pull off sweeps over the last week, with the Heroes taking the Lions — 4-3, 6-0, 6-1 — during the midweek series and the Landers breezing past the Dinos — 14-2, 8-1, 7-3 — over the weekend.

The Heroes were one of only three teams to walk away with a series win in the midweek games, with the first of the monsoon rains causing a number of cancelations on Thursday. Down in Gwangju, the Tigers managed the only other complete series, beating the Giants 7-4 in a rubber match after a 5-5 win on Tuesday and a 7-5 loss on Wednesday.

The Twins at home in Jamsil, southern Seoul, were among the teams unable to play on Thursday, but had already beaten the Eagles, 10-4, 6-5, earlier in the week to take the series. Over in Incheon, the Landers and Bears split their shortened-series, with the Bears winning the opener 16-2 and the Landers taking game two 6-5. The same was true in Suwon, where the Wiz beat the Dinos 8-1 on Tuesday, then lost 11-0 on Wednesday.

Despite heavy rain being forecast nationwide over the weekend, all fifteen games went ahead as the summer humidity set in.

The Landers weren't the only of the top three teams to take a series win over the weekend, with both the Heroes and Twins also coming out on top in their respective series.

The Heroes visited the Giants in Busan, losing the opening game 5-1 but coming back to take a big 13-5 win on Saturday and the 9-4 rubber match on Sunday. The Twins had a similar experience in Suwon, losing a close opener 9-8 to the Wiz, but then coming back to win 7-2 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday.

The fourth-place Tigers also held their own against the Bears in Jamsil, winning the first two games, 4-3, 8-6, before the Seoul club took an 8-4 consolation game on Sunday.

In the final game of the weekend, the Lions dropped their opening game 3-0 to the Eagles, allowing the Daejeon club to snap a 10-game losing streak, before coming back to win the next two games, 5-2, 6-2.

Rain delays and cancellations could be an issue this week, with the wet season forecast to arrive with a vengeance. Weather permitting, the league will return on Tuesday as the Landers take on the Eagles, the Tigers face the Heroes, the Dinos visit the Twins, the Wiz play the Lions and the Bears travel to Busan to take on the Giants.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]