FOUR TEAMS BATTLING FOR FINAL KBO PLAYOFF BERTH

Although there’s still quite a while before the end of the regular season, the Korea Baseball Organization’s pennant chase appears to be shaping up as a four-way battle for the league’s fourth and final playoff berth.


The Doosan Bears are 39-26-2 to lead the 40-26-5 SK Wyverns by a a few percentage points at the top of the standings while the KIA Tigers are a solid third at 37-29-4. After that? A crapshoot.

The surprising unsponsored Heroes team is in fourth place with a 32-35-1 record, but hot on their heels are the 32-38 Lotte Giants and Samsung Lions, as well as the 32-36-4 LG Twins. Only the 24-40-3 Hanwha Eagles appear to be out of the running after losing five straight games.

So which team is the best bet for fourth place? The Heroes and Twins appear to be in the best shape. The Heroes have one of Korea’s best pitchers in Hyun-seung Lee, who has nine wins, and DH Cliff Brumbaugh, who leads the KBO with 21 homers and 59 RBIs. LG has the KBO’s top two batters, Park Yong-taek (.380) and Roberto Petagine (.376), as well as a top-notch closer in Jae-young Lee.