Twins pull seven games clear as Landers drop out of top two

The LG Twins pulled seven games clear of the pack this week, sending the reigning champion SSG Landers out of the top two for the first time in months when the two teams met over the weekend.

Austin Dean of the LG Twins, right, high fives third-base coach Park Yong-geun after hitting a two-run single and advancing to third on an error in the seventh inning of a game against the SSG Landers and Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Friday. [YONHAP]

The LG Twins pulled seven games clear of the pack this week, sending the reigning champion SSG Landers out of the top two for the first time in months when the two teams met over the weekend.

The Landers fell down to third for the first time since May on Saturday after losing 8-4 and 11-2 in the first two games of their home stand against the Twins. A slim 2-1 win on Sunday could not save the Incheon club, who now sit a game behind the KT Wiz.

Having spent Sunday and Monday in third, the Landers have now doubled their time outside the top two for the season. The club had previously only dropped down the rankings for two days, on May 19 and April 19.

The Twins two-for-three victory over the Landers over the weekend rounded off an unusually quiet spell for the top-ranked team, who lost two games to one against the ninth-place Samsung Lions earlier in the week.

That series win — 6-5, 3-6, 4-2 — helped kick off a quiet resurgence for the Lions, who also went on to beat the sixth-place Kia Tigers over the weekend: 12-2, 5-6, 6-4.

The Landers, meanwhile, lost their midweek series in spectacular fashion, ending up on the wrong side of a Lotte Giants sweep: 6-10, 4-7, 4-15.

Climbing up to second place, the Wiz started their week off with a sweep of their own, inching past the fifth-place Doosan Bears with three tight victories: 1-0, 5-2, 9-8. The Wiz continued that momentum into the weekend, where they dropped an opener against the Tigers 11-6, but rallied for a 5-4 win on Saturday and a more decisive 3-0 victory in the rubber match on Sunday.

The fourth-place NC Dinos failed to win either of their series, splitting their Tuesday opener against the eighth-place Hanwha Eagles 3-3 and then going on to lose 4-3 on Wednesday and win 10-9 on Thursday for a tied series, only to see the same thing happen against the Bears over the weekend when Friday’s game was postponed, Saturday’s went to the Bears 4-1 and the Dinos pulled one back 12-5 on Sunday.

The last-place Kiwoom Heroes had a fairly positive week, losing their opening series to the Tigers — 9-6, 3-11, 4-8 — but then bouncing back to pull off the only sweep of the weekend by edging out the Lions: 5-4, 5-2, 7-6.

The KBO returns Tuesday, but with rain forecast nationwide throughout the week there could be some cancelations. If the games go ahead as planned, the Twins will host the Giants at Jamsil in southern Seoul, the Tigers will visit the Wiz in Suwon, Gyeonggi, the Landers will face the Giants in Incheon, the Bears will take on the Heroes in western Seoul and the Lions and Eagles will face off in Daegu.

There’s some top-five intrigue moving into the weekend as the Twins face the Dinos in Changwon, North Gyeongsang and the Landers take on the Bears in Jamsil. The Wiz will head south to Busan to face the Giants, the Heroes will play the Lions in Daegu and the Eagles and Tigers will meet in Gwangju.

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