KBO returns from All-Star break on a very wet weekend

It was a quiet return from the All-Star break for the KBO over the weekend, with six of 15 games canceled. The Kiwoom Heroes and KT Wiz won the only complete series, allowing both teams to climb a little higher up the bottom half of the table

A packed crowd watches on as the league-leading LG Twins take on the second-place SSG Landers in the first game after the All-Star break at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Friday. [YONHAP]

It was a quiet return from the All-Star break for the KBO over the weekend, with six of 15 games canceled at the height of the rainy season. The Kiwoom Heroes and KT Wiz won the only complete series, allowing both teams to climb a little higher up the bottom half of the table.

It was a good weekend to be on the road, with the Wiz beating the Samsung Lions two games to one in Daegu and the Heroes besting the Lotte Giants in Busan.

The Wiz won their opening game 7-2 against the 10th-place Lions, taking the sixth-place spot from the Kia Tigers in process. After losing 5-2 on Saturday, the Wiz returned Sunday to win the rubber match 8-7 to take the series.

Down in Busan, the Heroes dropped Friday’s opener 2-0 to the fifth-place Giants, before rebounding over the weekend to win 5-3, 7-6 and take the series. Those victories allowed the Heroes to climb from ninth to eighth place, knocking the Hanwha Eagles down a spot in the process.

For everybody else it was a very wet weekend.

The highly-anticipated clash between the first-place LG Twins and second-place SSG Landers turned out to be a one-game affair, the Landers taking it 6-4 on Friday before rain washed out the weekend.

The third-place Doosan Bears were able to extend their winning streak to 10 games on Friday with a 5-2 win over the Tigers, but have to wait for this week and some tougher opponents for the chance to push it even further.

The fourth-place NC Dinos also stayed hot on the Bears’ tail with a 9-3 win over the Eagles on Friday before the rest of the series was canceled.

The KBO last week announced that canceled weekend games will be replayed the following Monday when possible, but the new system is due to be implemented from Aug. 5. In the absence of Monday make-up games, the six canceled games from last weekend will be rescheduled at the end of the season.

The cancelations over the weekend have caused an even bigger disparity in the number of games played by each team, especially at the bottom half of the table.

The Heroes have now played 89 games so far this season, eight games more than the league average of 81. The Tigers, meanwhile, sit a spot ahead of the Heroes but have played 12 games fewer, on 77.

Only in the top half of the table are things fairly steady. While the league-leading Twins have a couple of games over the other teams, on 82, the Landers, Bears, Dinos and Giants have all played 80 games apiece.

The KBO returns Tuesday for what is expected to be a slightly drier week, although with the possibility of showers every single day.

The Twins will look to break a three-loss streak as they take on the Wiz in Suwon, Gyeonggi as the Landers face the Lions in Daegu and the Bears look to keep things going as they host the Giants in Jamsil, southern Seoul. Over in western Seoul, the Eagles visit the Heroes, while the Tigers head to Changwon, South Gyeongsang to take on the Dinos.

The always-exciting Jamsil Derby returns on the weekend as the Twins look to stop the Bears run, while the Landers host the Eagles in Incheon. The Wiz will face the Dinos in Changwon, the Giants visit the Tigers in Gwangju and the Lions face the Heroes in western Seoul.

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