The two best teams in Korean baseball will square off for their final regular-season battle this weekend with the top seed and the bye to the championship series at stake.
The LG Twins, with an 83-51-3 (wins-losses-ties) record, hold a three-game lead over the Hanwha Eagles (80-54-3) in first place in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), with both clubs having seven games left. The Twins have their magic number for the pennant down to five -- meaning, they will secure first place when a combination of their wins and the Eagles' losses reaches five.
Losses by both clubs on Saturday ensured that the Twins won't be able to get the job done before they visit the Eagles at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon, 140 kilometers south of Seoul, for their last three-game series of the season beginning Friday.
The Twins own a 7-5-1 edge in the season series so far. They are the only team with a winning record against every opponent this season.
The club with the best record in the regular season will receive a bye to the Korean Series, and a break of about three weeks before the start of their postseason. The second-place team will advance to the best-of-five second round of the postseason.
Both the Twins and the Eagles will be idle until Wednesday, and the best the Twins can hope at this point is to get the magic number down to one entering the series opener in Daejeon.
To prevent the Twins from celebrating their regular-season title in Daejeon, the Eagles will simply have to keep winning and hope other teams will keep beating the Twins.
The Twins visit the NC Dinos in the southeastern city of Changwon on Wednesday and then travel a little northeast to Ulsan to take on the Lotte Giants on Thursday, before arriving in Daejeon.
The Eagles play the SSG Landers in Incheon, just west of Seoul, on Wednesday and then visit the Doosan Bears in the capital city prior to the crucial Twins series.
With the Eagles locked into second place at worst -- they have a nine-game lead over the third-place Landers -- there is a bit more clarity in the battle for the remaining three postseason spots.
The Landers (69-61-4) lead the Samsung Lions (69-66-2) by 2 1/2 games in third. The Lions are up a half game on the KT Wiz (68-66-4) in fourth.
The Wiz, having won two straight, hold a 1 1/5-game lead over the Lotte Giants (65-66-6).
The Dinos (63-67-6) sit three games out of fifth with eight games left. The defending champions Kia Tigers (62-70-4) are all but out of the race, as they are five games behind the Wiz with eight games to play.