Historic fifth-place tiebreaker a possiblity as Wiz, Landers both win on Saturday

The KT Wiz and SSG Landers both won their games Saturday, leaving the Landers in their final 2024 KBO regular season game to decide whether the two sides will play a head-to-head fifth-place tiebreaker for a final spot in the postseason.

The KT Wiz celebrate winning after their 10-4 victory over the NC Dinos in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on Sep. 12. [NEWS1]

The KT Wiz and SSG Landers both won their games Saturday, leaving the Landers in their final 2024 KBO regular season game to decide whether the two sides will play a head-to-head fifth-place tiebreaker for a final spot in the postseason.

The Wiz won their last regular season game 10-7 over the Kiwoom Heroes in Suwon, Gyeonggi, to finish with 72 wins, 70 losses and two ties. They sit in fifth place on the 10-team table as of press time Sunday.

Over in Daejeon, the Landers beat the Hanwha Eagles 6-2 in their penultimate game to sit in sixth place with 71 wins, 70 losses and two ties, with one final game against the Heroes on Monday left to go.

A loss to the Heroes would send the Wiz through to the postseason. If the Landers win, it would result in the first fifth-place tiebreaker in KBO history. The tiebreaker game would take place on Tuesday.

If the Wiz win the tiebreaker, the Suwon side will play the fourth-placed Doosan Bears for the Wildcard game in the postseason on Wednesday. The Wildcard series is technically a three-game series, but can only be played over a maximum of two games because the regular season fourth-place finisher enters the series with a one-game lead.

Four teams have already booked spots in the playoffs this year: the Kia Tigers, Samsung Lions, LG Twins and Bears.

In the KBO, the top five teams advance to the postseason in a linear ladder format, with the higher-ranked teams earning automatic byes to enter the competition later.

While the Landers’ game against the Heroes will decide which team will play in the postseason, the regular season still has some games left to finish.

The NC Dinos were set to play the Eagles later in the evening in Daejeon on Sunday as of press time, before they play the regular season champions Tigers in Gwangju on Monday. They play their last game against the Lotte Giants in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, the next day.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN, JIM BULLEY [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]