The race for the top spot in the Korean Baseball Organization is coming down to the wire for mid-tier teams heading into fall baseball.
The LG Twins, Doosan Bears, KT Wiz, and SSG Landers, the third through sixth-ranked teams in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League, all picked up wins on Monday.
The wins left the final standings still up for grabs for third-place LG and fourth-place Doosan, who are two games back, as well as fifth-place KT, which is one game behind.
In addition, sixth-ranked SSG, which has won four straight games, will be looking to pull off a last-minute upset as it trails fifth-ranked KT by 1.5 games.
Earlier in the day, LG traveled to Busan and defeated the Lotte Giants 7-4.
LG took a 4-2 lead in the top of the sixth inning as Park Hae-min, Hong Chang-ki and Park Dong-won each hit solo home runs.
Lotte tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth when Yoon Dong-hee hit a two-run home run to left field.
However, LG regained the lead at 6-4 in the top of the seventh when Kim Hyun-soo and Austin Dean hit back-to-back doubles with one out.
In the top of the ninth inning, Austin again drove in a run with an RBI single.
LG's Choi Won-tae, who came on with runners on first and second in the bottom of the inning, gave up four runs on eight hits in five and a third innings, but the offense helped him pick up his ninth win in as many games.
In Jamsil, the fourth-ranked Doosan Bears extended their winning streak to four games with a 9-4 victory over the KIA Tigers.
Kia scored two runs in the top of the first inning after leadoff hitter Kim Do-young led off with a triple to center field and scored on an RBI single by Choi Hyung-woo.
However, Doosan tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the second on a double by Jared Young and an RBI single by Kim Jae-ho before Lee Yoo-chan hit a two-run double to left-center to make it 3-2.
In the third inning, Yang Seok-hwan and Kang Seung-ho combined for three runs on RBI singles and an error to take a 6-2 lead.
Kia got on the board in the top of the fourth inning when Socrates Brito hit a solo home run to right, but Doosan answered with a run-scoring single to left after a pitching change to make it 7-3.
Doosan tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, including a two-run double by Yang Ji-hyun.
In Suwon, KT defeated the second-place Samsung Lions 12-5.
KT took the lead in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Jang Jang-woo, 메이저사이트 but Samsung answered in the bottom of the inning with runners on second and third as Lee Jae-hyun doubled to left and Koo Ja-uk singled to right to make it 3-1.
KT tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third when Jang Sung-woo hit a two-run homer, but Samsung regained the lead at 4-3 in the top of the fourth when Yoon Jung-bin hit a solo shot.
However, KT tied the game again in the bottom of the fourth when Jang Jang-woo singled to left to tie the game at 4-4, and in the top of the fifth, KT scored five runs on five hits and two walks to take a 9-4 lead.
KT scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, including a two-run homer by Oh Yoon-seok, to decide the game.
Jang Sung-woo went 3-for-3 with a home run and six RBIs.
In Incheon, SSG Landers held off a late rally by the Kiwoom Heroes, 8-6.
Kiwoom took the lead in the top of the fourth inning when Choi Ju-hwan hit a sacrifice fly with runners on first and third.
SSG answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth on RBI singles by Guillermo Heredia and Park Sung-han and a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the sixth, Heredia's two-run homer over the left-center field fence and Go Myung-joon's RBI single added three more runs to make it 6-1.
SSG added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, including a solo home run by Lee Ji-young to make it 6-2.
Kiwoom scored four runs in the top of the ninth, including a three-run homer by Song Sung-moon, but couldn't pull away.
SSG starter Drew Anderson pitched six innings of three-hit, one-run ball to pick up his 10th win of the season.
In Changwon, where the eighth and ninth place teams met, the Hanwha Eagles defeated the NC Dinos 7-6.
Kwon Kwang-min hit a two-run homer to left in the top of the first inning, but NC cut the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the inning when Hyeon-hwan Jae-hwan blasted a grand slam to left off Hanwha starter Ryu Hyun-jin.
However, Hanwha scored three runs on five hits in the top of the second inning to take a 5-4 lead.
After scoring a run in the third, Hanwha added a run in the top of the sixth on Kwon Kwang-min's RBI double to make it 7-4 and secure the win.
Kwon led the offense with five hits, including a home run, three doubles and four RBIs.
Ryu Hyun-jin gave up four runs on seven hits in the third inning before leaving early with elbow soreness.