Can baseball’s SSG Landers pull off a fall baseball miracle?
SSG won 8-6 against the Kiwoom Heroes in the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Nov. 19. It was their fourth straight win.
SSG, which has 66 wins, two ties and 68 losses this season for a .493 winning percentage, is sixth in the league and has yet to qualify for the postseason. They are 1.5 games behind fifth-place KT (69 wins, 2 draws, 68 losses, .504 winning percentage) and 2.5 games behind fourth-place Doosan (69 wins, 2 draws, 66 losses, .511 winning percentage). SSG, which held the fifth spot until the 22nd of last month and dropped as low as eighth, has managed to climb back up to sixth and is now eyeing fifth place.
The KBO League, which has seen more intense competition than ever before, seems to be settling down as the season nears its end. On the 16th, 10th-place Kiwoom (57 wins, 80 losses, .416 winning percentage) was eliminated from the postseason, and on the 17th, first-place KIA (83 wins, 2 ties, 53 losses, .610 winning percentage) won the regular season title.
On the 19th, No. 9 NC (60 wins, 2 draws, 74 losses, .448 winning percentage) was eliminated from the postseason.
Of the bottom three teams that still have a chance to make the postseason (SSG, Lotte, and Hanwha), SSG is the only one that can realistically contend for fall baseball. That’s because SSG can create a fifth-place game on its own. With eight games remaining, SSG would win all of its remaining games to finish with 74 wins, two draws, and 68 losses for a .521 winning percentage, which would tie KT, which has five games remaining, even if it wins all of its games. 카지노사이트 According to KBO rules, in the event of a tie for first and fifth place, the teams will have to play a tiebreaker game the day before the wild card game to decide the standings.
Of course, at this point, KT has the advantage in fifth place, but even with the same number of wins, the pressure is different for KT, which needs to win five games, and SSG, which needs to win eight. For every one win KT has, SSG has to win two.
Nevertheless, SSG is desperate to qualify for the postseason and will have no choice but to give their all to win every game. In particular, the upcoming two-game series against KT at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 21st and 22nd, and against Doosan at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 23rd, are crucial games that will virtually decide SSG’s fall baseball challenge.
SSG will need to catch last-place Kiwoom in order to travel to Suwon in the best possible mood.
Starting on the mound will be Song Young-jin, who is coming off a no-decision against Hanwha on the 10th, throwing 5⅓ innings of three-hit ball with three walks and two strikeouts. Song has a poor record this season with a 5-9 record and a 5.48 ERA in 25 games (95⅓ innings), but he was dominant in September with a 1-0 record and a 0.79 ERA in two games (11⅓ innings).
Kiwoom’s starting pitching is no slouch either. Ace Ariel Furado will take the mound. Hurado is 10-7 with a 3.17 ERA in 29 games (184⅓ innings) this season. Against SSG, he is 2-1 with a 3.15 ERA in three games (20 innings). Furado’s presence is such that even the top teams – KIA, Samsung, and LG – are nervous to play Kiwoom with him on the mound.
Kiwoom has already been eliminated from the postseason. With only four points left in the league’s lowest logic number, Kiwoom is determined to give it their all until the end of the season. They can’t let the rest of the season go to waste, even if it’s for next year. With a long way to go, SSG will be a very tough opponent.
It will be interesting to see if SSG can catch Kiwoom with Furado on the mound and make a late-season fall surge.