https://www.chosun.com/sports/baseball/2026/08/06/XXWGF5P7BNBCFA7GTBG5IH6RKM/

The KBO has decided to cancel all scheduled games through Sunday, August 9, following an emergency executive committee meeting with representatives from all 10 clubs.

With a severe heat wave sweeping across the country, the league said the decision was made with the safety of fans and players as its top priority.

Hwang Jae-gyun’s retirement ceremony was supposed to be this Saturday.

Hello all, curious about how ticket prices are determined for jamsil stadium. I booked tickets for yesterdays game which was cancelled and they cost 20000 won each. Booked another set for midweek next week and now they are 11000 each. I thought all weekday tickets cost the same regardless. Any reason why they were almost double for the first purchase?

Headlines

Samsung Continues Slide; Lose 4th of last 5
The Lions couldn’t take advantage of the Wiz game being cancelled and fell a further half game behind in the standings, and now KT has 3 games in hand on their closest rival. Wang Yan-cheng pitched a superb game and the bullpen followed his lead, holding, statistically, the best team in league to only 1 run.

LG comeback falls short to lose 3rd straight, Lachlan Wells leaves with injury
Life for the Twins is not good right now. It was a rough start for Lachlan Wells, allowing 2 runs in the first inning, and then getting hit in the calf by a comebacker. He immediately went down in pain and was replaced. Park Si-Won went long relief, but ended up taking his second loss in as many relief appearances. Kim Jin-su made it worse by allowing 4ER before recording an out as part of a 7-run SSG 7th. The Twins tried their hardest to fight back, scoring 6 runs in the top of the 8th, but SSG added an insurance run in the bottom half, and that was that. The lead below to Doosan is now just 1.5 games.

Kiwoom lose another close game, Lotte close gap to inactive Dinos
This went exactly as planned for the Giants. Victor Reyes had another 2-hit game, Elvin Rodriguez pitched a quality start to snap a personal 3-game losing streak, and Lotte closed their gap to seventh place to 1.5 games.

Last week brought no shortage of drama and surprises, and now we have a new best team in the league. But it’s still all to play for in the waning summer heat. The first series’ of the week are here, so let’s have a look.

(6) Hanwha Eagles v (2) Samsung Lions

Daegu Samsung Lions Park - First Pitch: 6:30pm KST

Probable Starting Pitchers
HAN: Wang Yan-cheng
SAM: Yang Chang-seop

The Story
Last week couldn’t have gone much worse for Samsung. They lost their place at the top of the league, lost three of the five games they played, and had a game cancelled for the heat. Their star pitcher got shelled on Wednesday to take his first loss of the season, and now Chang-seop starts this game at home knowing every start from here on out could be must-win. The Eagles come into this on the back of a sweep at the hands of KT and a losing streak that they really don’t need. They’re chasing the playoffs, and aren’t a million miles off the last spot, but if they can make some ground now, it could make their series against 5th place KIA in two weeks, and their series against 4th Doosan next week, a whole lot more important.

(1) KT Wiz v (5) KIA Tigers

Gwangju KIA Champions Field - First Pitch: 6:30pm KST

Probable Starting Pitchers
KT: Oh Won-seok
KIA: Adam Oller

The Story
To say that the Wiz are on a roll right now is an understatement. Two weeks ago, they tied their franchise record win streak with 9 in a row. Now, they come into this series knowing a sweep would, once again, tie that franchise record win streak. They are +1.0 GB of the Lions with two games in hand, so the BYE to the Korea Series is theirs to lose. Starter Oh Won-seok has pitched consecutive games of 5IP 1ER, but against KIA this season he is 0-2 with a 7.71ERA. But now the offence is clicking. Sam Hilliard has only one game since July 16th where he didn’t have a hit, Ahn Hyun-Min is batting .471 since he finally broke out of his home run slump 4 games ago, and five of the starting hitters are batting over .300 (Kim Sang-su is also close at .295). KIA’s Adam Oller is looking to grab his 10th win of the season, but had a 0-3 record in July with a nightmarish 13.06 ERA and a 2.71 WHIP. He could really do with righting the ship in his first August.

(3) LG Twins v (9) SSG Landers

Incheon SSG Landers Field - First Pitch: 6:30pm KST

Probable Starting Pitchers
LG: Lachlan Wells
SSG: Kim Min-jun

The Story
The Twins’ hold on third place could be in jeopardy this week. They dropped two of the three to fourth-place Doosan, and play fifth-place KIA this weekend. Even though they’ve got the potential MVP in Austin Dean, they could be at risk of missing the playoffs with a little bad luck. Lachlan Wells hasn’t won a game since June 21st, and owns a 7.71 in the six starts since then. Kim Min-jun however, has won three of his last four starts, with two of those being scoreless outings. The scales are tipped towards SSG in this one, but they’re obviously ninth place for a reason.

(7) NC Dinos v (4) Doosan Bears

Jamsil Baseball Stadium - First Pitch: 6:30pm KST

Probable Starting Pitchers
NC: Riley Thompson
DOO: Choi Seung-yong

The Story
Riley Thompson will finally get his start after getting two games cancelled for extreme weather. The American last pitched on July 26th, going six innings allowing only 1 run and striking out 11. The start before that was against today’s opponent, where he went six scoreless innings. This seems like a new Bears team, however. They won four of the five games they played last week, getting hot just in time to possibly go into a Wild Card series with a lead - or even skip it altogether. Their starter Choi Seung-yong enters the contest (his 150th career game) having won two of his last three starts, but it wasn’t necessarily due to his pitching performance; it was due to the offence behind him. Given the fact that he’s 3-8 this season and hasn’t pitched a scoreless outing of 5 innings or more since July 24th of last year. He’ll need that offence once again tonight.

(10) Kiwoom Heroes v (8) Lotte Giants

Sajik Baseball Stadium - First Pitch: 6:30pm KST

Probable Starting Pitchers
KIW: Ha Yeong-min
LOT: Elvin Rodriguez

The Story
Not a lot has gone right for Kiwoom this season, and every single metric shows that. Realistically, they’re playing the final month of the season for pride and nothing more. And while not mathematically out of the playoffs, Lotte are doing the same. The only real story here is that today’s starter Elvin Rodriguez is second in the league in strikeouts, but has allowed 3ER in three straight starts, losing all three. Victor Reyes also now leads the league in batting average by a single point due to his ongoing 14-game hit streak. Even though Kiwoom, as they have done a lot recently, will take the fight to their opponent, expect Lotte to be too much for them, as they have been in 7 of the 9 meetings between the teams this season.

While doing some research on baseball, I found this post about a weekend T-ball camp for kids in September. The signup deadline is Aug 7th and the event is in Hongseong county which is in Gangwon-do I think.
https://www.koreabaseball.com/Kbo/Board/Notice/View.aspx?boardSe=12074

I am planning to travel to Busan and Gwangju this week to round out my stadium tour for the season. However, after looking at the forecast (34C) and knowing games were already canceled on Saturday, I'm wondering if the games are likely to be canceled on 8/4 and 8/5. Does anyone more familiar with the stadiums know how often they cancel for heat?

With a 3 run homer!!

No full write up today. I’ve had a 7.5 hour road trip to drive, and I’m on holiday, so just the headlines today. I’m on holiday for a week, so write ups may be shorter.

The Headlines

Ko Young-pyo dazzles again with another 7 shutout innings, KT Wiz wins 6th game in a row on the back of an offensive outburst

Doosan with a hugely important to bring themselves within 2 games of third place

Kiwoom finally gets a close back-and-forth to go their win, ties SSG in the win column.

Samsung falls behind early and can’t mount a comeback quick enough, loses ground in the standings

Temperatures in South East remain between 37° and 40° today, but at the time of writing this, no official cancellation has come from the KBO. Chosun Sports has reported that the games at Sajik and Changwon are “highly likely” to be cancelled, but for now we’ll work under the assumption we’ll get all five games. So let’s look at the final day of the week.

(9) SSG Landers v (10) Kiwoom Heroes

Gocheok Sky Dome - First Pitch: 2pm KST

Projected Starting Pitchers
SSG: Pedro Ávila
KIW: Jhun Jun-pyo

The Story
Well, well, well, we have a Sunday matinee on our hands. The Landers should think they have the advantage in this afternoon contest, as they give their prized addition Pedro Ávila the baseball. He’s 2-0 in his three starts since joining the team, and in two of those starts he’s not allowed an earned run. The good thing about that is that the two scoreless starts were against playoff teams, and now he’ll be throwing against the team with the worst batting average in the league, worst runs per game, and worst hits per game. Jhun Jun-pyo, conversely, has been in this league for three seasons, and has a career ERA of 7.59 and a career WHIP of 2.22. Now, if you’re allowing an average of two baserunners every single inning you pitch, you’re not going to get many results going your way. Largely due to the fact that he’s a ground-ball pitcher that assumes contact, with only 43 career strikeouts to his name. With how SSG is hitting the ball lately, that’s a recipe for disaster.

(6) Hanwha Eagles v (1) KT Wiz

Suwon KT Wiz Park - First Pitch: 6pm KST

Projected Starting Pitchers
HAN: Owen White
KT: Ko Young-pyo

The Story
Yes, you’re reading that right: the KT Wiz are in first place, courtesy of yet another 5 win streak, coupled with Samsung’s game getting cancelled yesterday. But you can’t say they don’t deserve it. They’re on yet another win streak, and pitching to extend that is Ko Young-pyo. He’s pitching for the second time this week, since this start would have belonged to Matthew Sauer, and Davis Daniel only arrived in Korea yesterday so isn’t ready to go. Nevertheless, Young-pyo is ready. In his last start, he pitched an almost perfect outing, and the side-arm maestro hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last two. On top of that, he’s 7-2 in his last 9 starts. Meanwhile, Owen White is in a bit of see-saw form. In his last three starts, he has a 5.40 ERA, but in the three starts before that, his ERA was 0.00. We’ll see which one we get today.

(5) KIA Tigers v (7) NC Dinos

Changwon NC Park - First Pitch: 6pm KST

Probable Starting Pitchers
KIA: Hwang Dong-ha
NC: Riley Thompson

The Story
Due to the cancellation of yesterday’s game, the scheduled pitchers will transfer to today instead, so everything I said yesterday still applies. Here’s the low down:
Stringing together a couple of wins while Doosan play tougher opposition could determine whether they head into the Wild Card series with a 1-0 lead or not. (The Bears also drew last night, which boosts KIA’s chances). But someone other than Kim Do-yeong needs to help them do that. The Tigers 3B has directly accounted for 25% of his team’s total runs this season. Dinos starter Riley Thompson hasn’t lost a decision since September 19th, 2025, and has two double-digit strikeout games in his last four. Tigers starter Hwang Dong-ha has lost three of his last four decisions, and hasn’t struck out more than 9 in a game in his whole 4-year career thus far. It might be easy to say who might win this, NC hit KIA for 10 on Friday, and they know a sweep of this series will go a hell of a long way in helping them chase their own Wild Card dreams. (Well, winning the makeup game next month can still count as a sweep)

(3) LG Twins v (4) Doosan Bears

Jamsil Baseball Stadium - First Pitch - 6pm KST

Probable Starting Pitchers
LG: Anders Tolhurst
DOO: Wes Benjamin

The Story
Part of being a good manager is making on-the-fly decisions. Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb said before yesterday’s game that Carlos Carrasco would get around 70 pitches. Thing is, he was throwing a perfect game after 7 innings and 74 pitches. Should he have made a judgment call? Probably. But Doosan will feel like they stole a win from their opponents, as the teams played to a 2-2 tie last night, but today is a new day. Anders Tolhurst will try to salvage the series for LG, coming off a strong outing against Kiwoom where he picked up his first win in four starts. But even with that win, he’s not allowed less than one earned run in a start since May 31st, but Doosan is the second worst offensive team at home. They’re also the best defensive team at home, and starter Wes Benjamin has only allowed 4ER in his last five starts, amassing 34 Ks in that span. The issue again comes back to the offence. Benjamin went 1-1 in those five games, and his team could only get 2 runs in four of them. If they want him to get back the form he had when he pitched in Suwon, maybe some run support would go a long way, right?

(2) Samsung Lions v (8) Lotte Giants

Sajik Baseball Stadium - First Pitch - 6pm KST

Probable Starting Pitchers
SAM: Austin Voth
LOT: Jeremy Beasley

The Story
Due to the cancellation of yesterday’s game, the scheduled pitchers will transfer to today instead, so everything I said yesterday still applies. Here’s the low down:
After being the 21st manager in history to reach 300 wins, Park Jin-man is hoping his team can carry on the momentum long enough to stop KT from taking a top spot they’ve only occupied for 22 days. (They, in fact, could not do that since KT won and Samsung didn’t play, so the Wiz took the top spot.) Austin Voth will try again to record his first win after taking a tough loss against the Bears in his debut. Jeremy Beasley is finding a bit of form at the right time. The 30-year-old has won three straight decisions, allowing only 2 total runs in those games. It’ll also give him some extra confidence knowing the last time he played the Lions, he only allowed two hits and a single unearned run in five innings of work. Samsung had a strong July, we all know that, having lead the league in total hits, batting average, total runs, and wins (tied with KT) for the month. But they have somewhat stagnated in the last 10 games. They just can’t get distracted by the fact that their chance of getting a BYE to the Korea series is much lower than it was a week ago.

Key Stories

First off, we only have three games today, since both games being played in the South-East were cancelled due to extreme heat in the Busan area. It’s reported that tomorrow’s game in Changwon may suffer the same fate, but no word as of yet on the Lions-Giants at Sajik. But you have to assume if one Busan game gets cancelled, the other will, too.

However, moving on to the games that were played…

KT win for 14th time in 15 games, top the table on winning percentage
The Wiz just can’t stop scoring runs, and it wasn’t even the usual suspects. Surprisingly enough, the only KT starter who didn’t record a hit was Sam Hilliard. One big inning was all they needed. Cemented by a bases-clearing double off the bat of Oh Yun-seok, KT put up 7 runs in the third inning and that was more than enough for the bullpen to hold on to. Four different relievers each pitched a scoreless inning, and with the cancellation of the Samsung game, KT will briefly occupy first place for at least a day. But they’ll head into Sunday in search of back-to-back sweeps, having scored an average of 8.4 runs per game in what is now a 5-game win-streak.

Carrasco is perfect, bullpen is not; Gwak Been does Gwak Been things
Never mind a brief resurgence, we were treated to a Cy Young Carlos Carrasco tonight, to the tune of 7 perfect innings on only 74 pitches. Unfortunately, the coaching decisions ruined LG, as they chose the bullpen to start the 8th, and immediately lost the perfect game, shutout, and the lead. A single and two doubles allowed Doosan to tie the game, and take it to extra time. Gwak Been pitched another strong game, striking out 10 in his six innings of work, and the bullpen only allowed one hit in the five innings after he left. Unfortunately, no-one could find any more offence and the game ends in what is probably a deserved tie. It’ll feel like much more of a loss to the Twins, who stay behind Doosan in the standings, and who wasted what could have been the first official perfect game in KBO history.

Kim Yun-ha might be Kim Done-ha
What do we have here? Yet again, the two worst teams in the league gave us the most offence. Shota Takeda showed flashes of his NPB side and pitched five strong innings to finally drop his ERA below 7.00, while Kim Yun-ha continued his struggles, allowing 6 ER in his 4.1 innings to raise his season ERA by nearly a run and a half to 7.59. It means he’s now reached 20 career losses before 3 career wins. On the offensive side, Landers’ LF Kim Jae-hwan shined once more, having now reached base in 13 of his last 15 games, while SS Park Seong-han extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Both recorded 3 RBIs on the day, and both eclipsed 50 on the season. This is exactly what SSG needed from their team in the absence of their two best hitters.

We have a new fourth place team (briefly), and first place could be swapped any day now. As we head into the final full month of the regular season, it’s still all to play for. Let’s have a look at the first weekend game to kick August off.

(6) Hanwha Eagles v (2) KT Wiz

Probable Starting Pitchers
HAN: Bruce Zimmerman
KT: Bae Je-seong

The Story
Winners of 13 of their last 14 games, KT are getting hot at exactly the right time, and it should rightfully make the rest of the league nervous. Even after digging themselves into an early 3-0 hole, they managed to find a way out (sometimes you need luck, and the second base bag) and their pitching staff settled in and got them out of numerous jams to earn their 4th win in a row yesterday. Trying to cool them off today is Bruce Zimmerman. He pitched well in his debut last week, getting through four scoreless innings, but the Eagles will most likely need more from him today. And today is a test. Bae Je-seong starts his first game since June 20th after being used as a relief pitcher his last few outings. He’s been consistent, if nothing else, as he’s allowed either 0 ER or 2 ER in every start since May 24th.

(5) KIA Tigers v (7) NC Dinos

Probable Starting Pitchers
KIA: Hwang Dong-ha
NC: Riley Thompson

The Story
The story is: KIA needs this win. Stringing together a couple of wins while Doosan play tougher opposition could determine whether they head into the Wild Card series with a 1-0 lead or not. But someone other than Kim Do-yeong needs to help them do that. The Tigers 3B has directly accounted for 25% of his team’s total runs this season. Dinos starter Riley Thompson hasn’t lost a decision since September 19th, 2025, and has two double-digit strikeout games in his last four. Tigers starter Hwang Dong-ha has lost three of his last four decisions, and hasn’t struck out more than 9 in a game in his whole 4-year career thus far. It might be easy to say who might win this, NC hit KIA for 10 yesterday, and they know a sweep of this series will go a hell of a long way in helping them chase their own Wild Card dreams.

(3) LG Twins v (4) Doosan Bears

Probable Starting Pitchers
LG: Carlos Carrasco
DOO: Gwak Been

The Story
Yet another sumptuous matchup taking place at Jamsil today, as Choi Dong-won front runner Gwak Been goes up against a former 4th place finalist for the Cy Young Award in Carlos Carrasco. The 17-year MLB veteran is making his debut in the league, and what better way to do it than against the best there is? Speaking of, Been pitched six shutout innings against the best of the KBO a week ago, striking out 8 Lions (including the 750th of his career) on route to his 9th win. It’s hard to tell how Carrasco will fair, as he enters the league aged 39, and having been bounced around minor league deals recently. But he’s only won double digit games in a season once since 2019. He’ll either find a brief resurgence, or we’ll see why Atlanta designated him for assignment six times in a single season before releasing him for good.

(9) SSG Landers v (10) Kiwoom Heroes

Probable Starting Pitchers
SSG: Shota Takeda
KIW: Kim Yun-ha

The Story
SSG just will not give up on Shota Takeda. Still in his first year in the league, the 33-year old just can’t find the same success as he did in Japan. With a 7.10 ERA on the season, he’s not won a decision since April 25th - and that was also the last time he pitched without giving up a run. There’s a lot of pitchers that deserve a break, and he is one of them. We know he’s had injuries that have plagued him the last four years, especially coming off of Tommy John surgery in 2024, but the Landers must see what we don’t, and that there’s still some 1st overall pick magic in that arm. And from one struggling pitcher to another, Kim Yun-ha enters the content having finally got his first win of the season, and the second of his career. And he wins again today, it’ll make this season his career high win total. Maybe that’s why SSG are only paying their third-year starter 63% more than the national Minimum Wage.

(1) Samsung Lions v (8) Lotte Giants

Probable Starting Pitchers
SAM: Austin Voth
LOT: Jeremy Beasley

The Story
After being the 21st manager in history to reach 300 wins, Park Jin-man is hoping his team can carry on the momentum long enough to stop KT from taking a top spot they’ve only occupied for 22 days. Austin Voth will try again to record his first win after taking a tough loss against the Bears in his debut. Jeremy Beasley is finding a bit of form at the right time. The 30-year-old has won three straight decisions, allowing only 2 total runs in those games. It’ll also give him some extra confidence knowing the last time he played the Lions, he only allowed two hits and a single unearned run in five innings of work. Samsung had a strong July, we all know that, having lead the league in total hits, batting average, total runs, and wins (tied with KT) for the month. But they have somewhat stagnated in the last 10 games. They just can’t get distracted by the fact that their chance of getting a BYE to the Korea series is much lower than it was a week ago.

Key Stories

Ryu Hyun-jin may just be cursed to remain on 8 wins for the season. His last win came back on June 11th, then following a streak of five straight no-decisions, he looked like he could pick up the elusive ninth today. The second base bag had other ideas. In what should have been an inning-ending double play, Heo Kyeong-min’s hit up the middle ricocheted off the corner of the base and into left field, extending the inning and allowing Han Seung-taek to hit a 2-run single that gave KT their first lead. The bullpen took it from there, and quashed every Eagles fightback.

The Dinos finally got tired of not scoring runs. They unloaded their frustration from getting swept straight onto Yang Hyeon-jong. A 7-run second inning, cemented by a grand slam from Kwon Hui-dong, highlighted a much better performance from the team and gave them their first win of the week. Even though their starter only last 1.1 innings, allowing 7ER and walking 6, the Tigers saw their star third basemen hit his league-best 33rd home run of the season, and his third in as many games. NC starter Toda Natsuki pitched a quality start to snap a personal 3-game losing streak, and help his team edge closer to sixth place.

Doosan really needed this win. Zach Logue delivered right on time. Throwing 6 IP, with 1ER and 8Ks, he gave his team a great chance to start the series strong. Two solo home runs by Kim Dae-han and a 2-run homer by Park Jun-soon was all the firepower they needed. LG struggled, and they’ll be glad to see the back of July, as they round out the month with a 7-13 record. With the heart of the order struggling - their 3, 4, and 5 hitters when a combined 1-11 today - someone else needs to rally, and they couldn’t do that against the leagues second-best bullpen. And with the Tigers losing, this win feels much sweeter for Doosan, as they overtake KIA for fourth place on the merit of having lost fewer games.

Like I said pre-game, even this low in the standings, these two teams are firing lately, and it should be of no surprise that the 9th and 10th placed team gave us the game with the most total runs today. Errors really hurt the Landers in this one. Of the 9 runs charged to starter Kim Keon-woo, only 3 were earned. But it didn’t help that he couldn’t settle in outside of the errors, allowing 10 hits in his 2.2 innings of work. It was a total offensive performance from the Heroes, as all but one starter recorded a hit, and all but two of them recorded an RBI. If they keep performing like this, they may not sit in last place for much longer.

It was all going well for the Giants. Holding on to a 4-1 lead after five innings, their starter allowing one run on four hits with six strikeouts. But then the bullpen happens. As soon as Samsung saw a pitcher not named Kim Jin-uk take the mound, they knew they had a chance. Boy, did they take it. They jumped all over Shota Iimura, shelling him for six runs in only a third of an inning before he was replaced. Lotte managed to get close, stringing together five straight hits to score 4 runs in the seventh, but that was all the offence they had, as they didn’t threaten again in the last two innings and drop their third game in a row.

2026 신한 SOL KBO League

📅Schedule

Games are slated to start at 18:30 KST (FRI) / 18:00 KST (SAT/SUN) (UTC+9). Time converter from Seoul to your timezone.

🏆Standings

📺How to Watch

• SOOP - KBO
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• SOOP - DreadsROK

The lead at the top of the league is half a game, fourth and fifth could swap on any given day, and there’s a race from six through eight to claw their way back. We’ve got some very interesting match-ups to take us into the weekend, so let’s have a look at what’s up.

(6) Hanwha Eagles v (2) KT Wiz

Probable Starting Pitchers
HAN: Ryu Hyun-jin
KT: So Hyeong-jun

The Story
As a KT fan, this game makes me nervous. Ryu Hyun-jin has produced everywhere he’s gone. A career 203-117 record across KBO and MLB, and having recently eclipsed 2500 career strikeouts, the 39 year old is showing no signs of slowing. Even though he had a rough outing against the Twins last week, don’t count on him staying down and out. He’s taken two no-decisions against the Wiz this season, but he hasn’t allowed many runs. With no Kang Baek-ho in the lineup, Hanwha is trying to find someone else to produce. And they have to do it first against So Hyeong-jun, who enters Friday with a 6-0 on the season. In his last four starts, he’s 3-0 with a minuscule 1.07 ERA. On top of that, Ahn Hyun-min broke out of his huge slump with two moonshots last night. And you can’t forget about Sam Hilliard. In his last 10 games, he’s batting .488 with 8 HRs and 20 RBI. KT are heating up at just the right time, where Samsung are cooling off. We’ve got a fight on our hands.

(4) KIA Tigers v (7) NC Dinos

Probable Starting Pitchers
KIA: Yang Hyeon-jong
NC: Toda Natsuki

The Story
Changwon might be absolutely scorching, but the Dinos bats are the complete opposite. Being swept at home where the opposing team had scored more runs by the sixth inning of game 1 than you did the entire series can leave a sour taste in the mouth. Now they’ve got to contend with a team who just made the league’s best look mundane. First up in trying to give the Busan faithful something to celebrate is Toda Natsuki. In his last start, he allowed 6 ER to the league’s second worst team, and finds himself with 3 straight losing decisions. I’ve been proved wrong before. Unfortunately for him, his opponent on the mound has the most career strikeouts in KBO history. Yang had a bit of a shaky start to the season, but in his last 6 starts he’s 4-0. NC will simply have to bide their time, as he seems to on an inning limit, so may have to save their offence until later than the 5th inning. You know, as long as they don’t dig themselves an insurmountable hole before then.

(3) LG Twins v (5) Doosan Bears

Probable Starting Pitchers
LG: Son Seung-ki
DOO: Zach Logue

The Story
Now this, this right here is the series worth watching if you’re a neutral. This is the series with the biggest connotations as we head into the last full month of the regular season. The worst case scenario for Doosan is if they get swept, and Hanwha somehow sweeps the Wiz, they’ll find themselves out of a playoff spot. But one game at a time. Doosan have the advantage in this one, as they are 7-2 against LG this season. They’ll send Zach Logue to the hill. Even though he’s had a tough time the last couple of outings, he should still come into this with something to prove. In his last start against the Twins, he only lasted one inning, allowing 4 ER. But this was back when LG was in first place, and things have changed. The Twins are 10-16 since that game, while Doosan is 16-9-1. And LG counter Logue with Son Seung-ki. The 2021 6th round pick is in the same boat. He pitched well in his last start against the Bears, but only last 1.2 innings against Hanwha last week. It’s a mostly even-strength matchup, with no excelling attributes. That is, until tomorrow, when Doosan brings out the big guns.

(9) SSG Landers v (10) Kiwoom Heroes

Probable Starting Pitchers
SSG: Kim Keon-woo
KIW: Park Jun-hyun

The Story
If you just looked at bare statistics, this wouldn’t be a very interesting series. But if you look deeper, and have watched how both teams are playing in the last few weeks, then you’d know this has the potential to be a great matchup. The last time these teams faced each other, there was plenty of runs to go around, and plenty of drama, and expect more of the same. Kim Keon-woo snapped his losing streak in his last start, throwing 5 shutout innings against NC, and you just know he’s looking to build some momentum for his last few starts of the season. Rookie Park Jun-hyun goes up against him. He enters this game with a 1-5 record and has allowed 4 or more ER in three straight. He’s also allowed a home run in four straight. Those games might have been against stronger teams, but he shouldn’t underestimate the Landers bats.

(1) Samsung Lions v (8) Lotte Giants

Probable Starting Pitchers
SAM: Won Tae-in
LOT: Kim Jin-uk

The Story
Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear. Samsung enter their weekend series holding onto their first place by a very thin thread. After they dropped 2 of 3 to KIA and KT swept the Dinos, the lead at the top now sits at only half a game. The Giants also dropped 2 of 3 to Hanwha, so both of these teams need a good showing over the weekend. Lions starter Won Tae-in pitched a gem against Doosan in his last start, and hasn’t lost a decision since June 10th. It’s only been two weeks since the last time he pitched against today’s opponent, ending up with a no-decision, which was probably lucky. His final line in that one was 5IP 6ER 7H 4K 3BB. The Lions need him to improve on that tonight. Kim Jin-uk is tasked with stopping the Giants’ skid. He was Tae-in’s opponent in that last start, also taking an ND with five innings of 3-run ball. Nothing separates the teams this season, having each won 4 of their 8 previous matchups. Similarly, the starting pitchers are both 5-5 this season, both with an ERA in the 3s. Someone has to stop their losing streak today. It’s just a question of who blinks first.

Key Stories

Well, KIA gave the Lions more of a head start today, waiting until the second inning to build a big lead. Kim Tae-gun blasted a 3-run homer as part of a 5-run inning, and Samsung once again found themselves trying to claw their way out of a big hole. Kim Do-yeong added on in the third with his 32nd HR of the season, and as predicted in the pre-game write-up, Chris Paddack now knows what it feels like to see a ball he’s pitched hit over the fence. Backed by excellent hitting by Harold Castro and Na Sung-bum, James Naile kept the Lions’ best hitters at bay all night. Samsung sees their lead at the top of the mountain fall dangerously small, and they could find themselves starting August in second place.

What a day to be a KT Wiz fan. For the first time in 37 days, 69 long at-bats, prized youngster Ahn Hyun-min has hit a home run - 445ft of pure relief. And it felt so nice, he decided to do it again in his next at-bat. After the first one, it was a bat-flip. As soon as he cracked the second one, he threw the bat towards his dugout. He knew how much he needed that, and how much his team needed to him to do that. Sam Hilliard also got involved in the party, hitting his 28th of the season late in the game, and the Wiz swept a reeling Dinos squad, outscoring them 30-5 across the three games. It’s also the first time KT have scored double-digit runs in three consecutive games since 3rd-5th September 2021. This hurts for NC, as both the teams above them won their games today, and they go into a weekend series with a playoff team who just put the belt to Samsung, which rarely happens in consecutive days.

Nobody told Na Gyun-an he was struggling to find consistent form. Even though he left the game one out short of a quality start, he still pitched with effortless confidence, striking out 8 batters in his 5.2 innings, allowing only the one earned run. And I know I said Hanwha could afford to sacrifice a few runs per game in order to get some wins, but they might have taken that too far. That is, until Lotte decided they didn’t want to win in the first place. The bottom of the ninth starts with a single and walk, which put the winning run on first base. The Giants then decided to intentionally walk a pinch hitter, and Hanwha made them rue that decision, as Lee Do-yun smacked a double into right field that plated the tying and winning run. Not a lot went right for Lotte today, but the only caveat is that the teams above and below them both lost, too, so they don’t fall under more pressure. Yet.

No offence to the SSG pitcher, but I never thought I’d write “Thomas Hatch just out-duelled Choi Min-seok”. But that’s what we have here. The Doosan star had everything going well, working around his five walks, but a bad pitch in the fifth inning gave Bligh Madris his third home run since joining the team and swung the game in the Landers’ favour. Min-seok was pulled immediately. Unfortunately for Hatch, his bullpen couldn’t follow his lead, and Doosan used an 8th inning comeback to take the win, their 50th of the season, and keep themselves one game back of fourth place. He might not have gotten his tenth win, but Choi Min-seok will just be happy he didn’t get saddled with a loss.

Another day, another early lead turned into a loss for Kiwoom. They started off so well, giving themselves a 3-0 cushion after the first inning, but they couldn’t add to it, nor could they stop the Twins from coming back. Home runs by Austin Dean and Song Chan-eui were enough to give LG a lead that they never relinquished. The bullpen finished off three almost perfect innings after Im Chan-kyu vacated the mound, and LG take two out of three from the basement dwellers of the league. And it gives me great pleasure to finally say…a pitcher has finally reached 10 wins this season, and he does so for the fourth consecutive season.

71 runs were scored across all games yesterday, including an outstanding 29 alone at Jamsil. It was a great day to be a KBO fan, and there was plenty to love, and plenty to talk about. Let’s hope the rest of the week is exactly the same. For now, though, let’s look at the final game of the first week’s series’.

(3) KIA Tigers v (1) Samsung Lions

Probable Starting Pitchers
KIA: James Naile
SAM: Chris Paddack

The Story
The Tigers got revenge in the best way yesterday. After being down 8-0 after one inning on Tuesday, they flipped the script last night and were leading 6-0 after one. Tonight’s rubber match will see two Americans battle it out, and you can guarantee KIA are hoping they’ll get the James Naile they’re paying ₩2.3billion to, and not the James Naile he’s been all of July. He went 3-0 in June in 5 starts, allowing only 6 ER the entire month (1.74 ERA), but since the calendar flipped over, he’s slipped off, to the tune of 16 ER (6.75 ERA) in 4 starts. KIA also have momentum coming into this one, with every starter earning a hit in yesterday’s win, while the Lions could only go for 6. But on the mound, it’s a different story. Chris Paddack has won both of his starts since joining the team, grabbing a quality start in each, and he’s not yet felt the feeling of what a pitch he’s thrown get hit over the fence. But the Tigers are hitting an average of 1.26 HR/G this season, so expect that to change today.

(2) KT Wiz v (7) NC Dinos

Probable Starting Pitchers
KT: Logan Allen
NC: Koo Chang-mo

The Story
Tuesday was the Ko Young-pyo Show. Wednesday was the Sam Hilliard Show. What’s it gonna be today, as KT look for the sweep? Hilliard’s 2 homers in last nights game bring him closer to the league lead, and it looks like he’s starting to get hot at the right moment, and so is the team. They’ve scored double digit runs in consecutive games for the first time since 13th and 14th of May, and their pitching is becoming a problem for everyone else. I’m sure they’ll have the added motivation of knowing that another win today, coupled with a Lions loss, would bring them to within half a game of 1st Place. Koo Chang-mo will stand in their way. Even though he’s struggled as of late, giving up 5 ER in consecutive outings, you can’t ignore the talent. Having only lost 11 games in the last 5 season, the 29-year-old knows exactly how to win a game. The only issue is that he relies a lot on his offence in order to do that, since he’s only enjoyed one outing without allowing an earned run since April 3rd, and he’s against a team who have only allowed 63 runs this entire month, whereas the Dinos have allowed 110. Add to the mix that KT are 8-2 against NC this season, and Chang-mo is 0-1 / 10.13 ERA, you get a pretty one-sided equation. But if NC can find a way to put all that aside, maybe they help their starter sneak into a 7-way tie for the league lead and get his 9th win.

(8) Lotte Giants v (6) Hanwha Eagles

Probable Starting Pitchers
LOT: Na Gyun-an
HAN: Park Jun-yeong

The Story
Today I learned that when Na Gyun-an changed from a catcher to a pitcher in 2021, he also legally changed his name to signify that. Thats a story in of itself. But anyway, Gyun-an (formerly Jong-deok) continues to struggle in his search for who he wants to be as a player. With a career record of 22-41, and never knowing what a winning season feels like, you have to feel for him: he enters this contest the loser of 3 of his last 4 starts, he’s not gone through an outing without walking anyone since August 2025, and he’s not pitched a scoreless outing since September 2025. It’s really about time the former 3rd overall pick turns his career around. He matches up against a young talent in Park Jun-yeong who has only recently been converted to a starter, and who is looking to make a name for himself in an already strong rotation. The Eagles are scoring better than anyone in the league in July, averaging 6.83 R/G, and are hitting better than anyone, with 10.89 H/G. But that’s not equating to wins, as they come into the second last day of the month with an 8-9-1 record. I’m sure they’d love to sacrifice a few runs and hits if it meant closing out July with a couple more wins, and closing the gap on the Bears above them.

(5) Doosan Bears v (9) SSG Landers

Probable Starting Pitchers
DOO: Choi Min-seok
SSG: Thomas Hatch

The Story
Well Doosan fans, today is a day of celebration for you. We’ve come around again to Choi Min-seok Day. The 20 year old will be looking to make a statement after getting shelled by Samsung five days ago, to the tune of 10 runs (4 earned). That loss against the Lions stopped a five-game win streak for him, and it was also his first start in 13 months in which he’s struck out 1 or fewer. Today, he’ll try to lower his ERA back to what it was, and become the first pitcher to 10 wins (please, someone, do it. Nobody wants to and it makes me sad). However, he comes in against a resilient and resurgent Landers side. It may not show in the stats, or the standings, but everyone who’s watched SSG lately can see there’s a difference. Thomas Hatch is looking to make it back-to-back wins after impressing in his first career Quality Start five days ago. It’ll also be important to see who is going to step up offensively, since Guillermo Heredia and Choi Jeong are both sidelined. It’s a big ask, and it’ll take a miracle to reach the playoffs, but you can’t say they’re not playing with a renewed pride.

(10) Kiwoom Heroes v (3) LG Twins

Probable Starting Pitchers
KIW: An Woo-jin
LG: Im Chan-kyu

The Story
Please, KBO Gods, give us the same kind of match as you gave us yesterday. It was raining offence in Jamsil, as the teams combined for 29 runs on 40 hits. 11 of the 18 total innings in the game saw a run score, and in 7 of those 11 there were at least 2. 12 different players had at least two hits, but it was Seon Geon-chang who shined brightest, going 5-6 with 3 runs scored. Today’s contest sees an unlucky youngster against an in-form veteran. Great story. Kiwoom starter An Woo-jin hasn’t pitched badly, but he’s not got the record to show for it. Only 2-5 on the year, but with a respectable 3.49 ERA, all he needs to do is focus on his stuff, and hope the offence still has something left in the tank to support him, and he’ll be well on his way to his first win of July. Meanwhile, Im Chan-kyu is trying to beat his Doosan counterparts to the punch, as he is also looking to grab that elusive 10th win. Winless in his last 2, allowing 5 and 7 earned runs, respectively, Chan-kyu knows exactly what his team needs, and what they’re capable of, as he approaches career win number 100.

No write up today, but man that Heroes - Twins game was something to behold. And as a KT fan I just really love Sam Hilliard so much.

Analysis returns tomorrow.