Samsung Lions Drop Seven Straight as KBO Race Tightens

The Samsung Lions started last week in first place in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). But then they went on to lose all six games of the week, which dropped them to fourth place to begin this week. The Lions had also lost April 18, meaning they have now dropped seven games in a row -- their longest slide of the season. They had banked enough wins early on that they are still above .500, at 12-11-1 (wins-losses-ties). But they have fallen away from the top dogs of the league, now 2 1/2 games out of third place but only a half game up on fifth place. The Lions will have a chance to snap their skid with series against two sub-.500 teams, as they visit the Doosan Bears (10-14-1) in Seoul from Tuesday to Thursday, and then host the Hanwha Eagles (10-14-0) in the southeastern city of Daegu from Friday to Sunday. The Lions managed only 14 runs in their six games last week, the lowest total in the league over that stretch. And they will try to right the ship against the Bears, who have lost their All-Star closer Kim Taek-yeon for several weeks due to shoulder strain. Another Seoul club, the LG Twins, will also be without their own star closer You Young-chan, who suffered an elbow injury after throwing a pitch during Friday's game. The extent of You's injury wasn't immediately known, but he will likely miss a significant amount of time. The Twins took two out of three against the Bears over the weekend to push their record to 16-8-0, a half game back of the KT Wiz (17-8-0) for second place. These top two clubs will collide at the Wiz's home in Suwon, just south of Seoul, for a three-game set beginning Tuesday. This will be the first meeting between them since the Wiz swept the two-game, season-opening series on March 28-29. The league's two bottom feeders, the Heroes (10-15-0) and the Lotte Giants (7-16-1), will square off at the Giants' home of Busan, some 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The Heoes are trying to avoid finishing in last place for the fourth season in a row. The Giants haven't finished a season in the KBO cellar since 2019. Some of the weekend action beginning Friday will feature the NC Dinos (11-13-0) visiting the Twins, the Kia Tigers (12-12-1) hosting the Wiz in the southwestern city of Gwangju, and the Bears taking on the Heroes in a battle of two Seoul-based clubs.