Landers retake first as heavy rain disrupts most games

The SSG Landers rode the rain right back into first place over the weekend, reclaiming the top spot as inclement weather left the majority of the KBO facing serious disruption from as early as Thursday.

The SSG Landers take on the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Friday. The sell-out game was the only one able to be played in the KBO due to heavy rain on Friday, the annual Children's Day holiday and a major date in the Korean baseball calendar. [NEWS1]

The SSG Landers rode the rain right back into first place over the weekend, reclaiming the top spot as inclement weather left the majority of the KBO facing serious disruption from as early as Thursday.

The Landers were lucky enough to be playing the Kiwoom Heroes at the western Seoul team’s Gocheok Sky Dome, the only covered dome in Korea, over the weekend. That series was the only one to be played for most of the weekend, with the Landers sweeping the Heroes: 3-1, 2-1, 7-6.

Over at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul, the LG Twins and Doosan Bears managed to play one game of their Jamsil derby, with the Twins thumping the Bears, 11-1.

It was the same down in Daejeon, where the KT Wiz and Hanwha Eagles were able to play a single game on Sunday, when the Eagles won 6-2.

Neither second-place Lotte Giants and sixth-place Samsung Lions in Busan nor the fourth-place Kia Tigers and fifth-place NC Dinos in neighboring Changwon, South Gyeongsang, were able to play a single game over the weekend.

The Giants’ weather woes started a day earlier on Thursday when the final game of their midweek series against the Kia Tigers was rained off the day after they lost 10-2 to snap a nine-game winning streak.

That loss followed by the rain cancellation allowed the Landers to climb back into first, knocking the Giants down to second.

The Landers also won their midweek series against the struggling KT Wiz, losing the opening game at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon 11-4, but winning the following two games, 5-3, 10-2.

The third-place Twins also saw some midweek success, beating the Dinos 5-3, 2-1 on Tuesday and Wednesday before a rain cancellation on Thursday.

Back up north, the inclement weather was less of an issue midweek, with the Eagles facing no interruption as they bested the Bears at Jamsil, 0-3, 8-3, 10-3. Down in Daegu the Heroes and Lions were also able to play through all three games, with the Heroes coming out on top: 4-0, 4-1, 1-14.

With up to 30 games now played in the young season, the spread remains narrow enough to allow for some fairly significant moves up and down the table.

The Tigers have now made it up to fourth, despite being in 10th place just a couple of weeks ago. The Wiz, meanwhile, have plummeted to the bottom of the table, allowing the Eagles to climb out of last place.

The Bears had been up among the top four just a couple of weeks ago, but have now dropped down to tie for sixth, allowing the Dinos and Tigers to inch back toward the top of the table.

But with the number of cancellations already this season, the standings have already become quite unpredictable. The Giants trail the Landers by two games in second place, but have a huge six games in hand. Similarly, the third-place Twins edge out the Tigers by three games, but the Gwangju club also has four games in hand.

The KBO returns Tuesday in what should be far nicer conditions as the Twins host the Heroes at Jamsil, the Bears head south to play the Giants in Busan, the Dinos take on the Wiz in Suwon, Gyeonggi, the Landers and Tigers face off in Gwangju and the Lions visit the Eagles in Daejeon.

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