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‘There’s still 8 more games to go’ LG dominates 1st place war, can SSG fight back in the second half?

adminJuly 3, 2023

Head-to-head 6-2 in favor of LG. But there’s still half a season to go.

The 2023 KBO season is shaping up to be a ‘two-power’ league. The Lotte Giants have dropped from the “three-power” structure at the start of the season, and the LG Twins and SSG Landers are now in a tight race for first place. After three days, only 1.5 games separate first-place LG and second-place SSG, while 7.5 games separate second-place SSG and third-place NC Dinos. Instead, the third and fourth places seem to have been swept up in a chaotic mid-table race.

Most teams have played more than half of the 144 games. The Kiwoom Heroes have played the most games, 77, while the KIA Tigers have played the least, 69. At the point of crossing the halfway point, the top two is likely to remain the same in the second half of the season, barring a major upset.

The head-to-head record between the two teams this season has been dominated by LG with a 6-2 record. In the first three games of the season in April, LG won 2-1, and in the May matchup, LG took the “sweep” with a 2-1 victory. In the third meeting in late June, LG won both games before the final day of the three-game series was rained out.안전놀이터

It’s a different story from last year. Last year, SSG had a slight edge in the 16 head-to-heads with 8 wins, 1 draw and 7 losses. Now that we’ve turned the corner, it’s getting closer and closer. Both captains point to August as the deciding factor. In effect, after the All-Star break, the game begins in earnest at the end of July. It is the hottest and most physically demanding time of the year, so how they perform during this period will determine the final outcome of the season.

“Honestly, I don’t feel good (about it),” said Kim Won-hyung of the LG Electronics deficit this year, “but there are still games left. We need to reorganize the points we need to improve and prepare to rebound later, even if we’re losing now,” he said, looking forward to a second-half comeback.

The same goes for LG. They are looking forward to August when they will have their full strength, including the normalization of domestic starters and the return of injured players. Coach Yeom Kyung-yup said, “I think we can compete with our lineup from August, and we are preparing for that. We just need to hold on until then, and if we can get (Lee) Jung-yong to take his place in the starting lineup, I think our starting card will be strong.”

The two teams will play a three-game series at home on July 21, coincidentally right after the All-Star break. Another three-game series is scheduled for mid-August, with the other two games to be organized at a later date. With LG and SSG having the best chances of fighting for the title down to the wire, the outcome of these eight games could be game-changing.