The Samsung Lions, who have shown a different side in the second half of the season, are back in the hunt for wins against lower-ranked teams with the only triple-digit team batting average among the 10 clubs.
Facing two of their toughest opponents this season, the LG Twins and the KIA Tigers, last week, Samsung once again showed a different team vibe with back-to-back winning series, taking two wins and one loss respectively in the final week of July.
Facing the Hanwha Eagles and Kiwoom Heroes this week, Samsung will be looking to erase the possibility of falling to the bottom of the leaderboard by taking on the teams above and below them in a series of head-to-head matches.
Currently in ninth place, Samsung trails eighth-ranked Hanwha by one game, who have recently lost two straight, but with 10th-ranked Kiwoom trailing by 1.5 games on the back of three straight wins, every game will have a big impact on the standings.
Samsung, which hosts Hanwha in a three-game midweek series away from home, has been evenly matched against the team this season with a 5-6 record, so a win or better in the three-game series could see them move up to eighth place in the standings.
The next weekend’s three-game series is at home against Kiwoom, another opponent that has been evenly matched this season with five wins, one draw, and six losses, and Samsung will be looking to erase the possibility of a first-ever bottom-five finish with a win.
Samsung’s second-half resurgence is largely due to a revitalized batting lineup centered around Koo Jae-rook, while Ki and Han Hwa have been at the bottom of the batting order in the second half of the season.먹튀검증
Samsung has been strong in all areas of hitting in the second half of the season with a team batting average of 0.310 (1st), team on-base percentage of 0.375 (1st), and team slugging percentage of 0.431 (2nd).