'October slump' Doosan faces NC for last chance at third-place fight
sportstotomen
Doosan's Yang Suk-hwan sits down after striking out with the bases loaded in the third inning of the baseball game between the Doosan Bears and the NC Dinos during the '2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League' at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, on September 19.
The Doosan Bears are on a downward spiral at a crucial time in their fight for third place. After being swept by the Lotte Giants, who are also out of postseason contention, the Bears have slipped to fifth place, with virtually one chance left to climb above third.
Doosan dropped a 3-14 decision to Lotte in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Sajik Stadium in Busan on Nov. 11. Starting pitcher Choi Won-jun was pulled after lasting less than two innings, and the bullpen was called upon early, giving up 17 hits and 11 walks.
It was Doosan's second straight loss, as they gave up four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against the KT Wiz on Oct. 10, resulting in a 4-5 upset.
Expanding the scope to October, Doosan's record is abysmal. After seven games, the team has only won two and lost five, and its monthly winning percentage is the lowest among the 10 teams. This is in contrast to SSG Landers, who rebounded to go 7-1 in October and are no worse than third place after being threatened with a top-five finish in September.
Doosan has a 5.11 ERA and a .249 batting average in the month, with both bats faltering. Their only win came against the Kiwoom Heroes (7-2) on April 2, when they scored six runs in the third inning.
With 71 wins and 2 losses, Doosan is 1.5 games behind third-place SSG (73 wins and 3 losses) and NC Dinos (73 wins and 2 losses). If Doosan loses its home game against NC on December 12, the gap between them and SSG will widen further, effectively dropping them out of the third place fight. Excluding the NC game, Doosan has only five games left to jump to fourth place.
Doosan starting pitcher Jang Won-jun pitches against the NC Dinos during the baseball game between the Doosan Bears and the NC Dinos of the '2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League' at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, on September 19.
That doesn't mean they're guaranteed a spot in the wild-card deciding game, where the fourth- and fifth-place teams face off. Doosan, which is within two games of the sixth-place Kia Tigers, could lose back-to-back games against Kia in the NC on Dec. 12 and Kia on Dec. 13. Kia faces Lotte in Gwangju on the 12th.
Doosan holds an 11-4 advantage in the season series against KIA, but given their recent slide, the last game is a tough one. They are hoping to meet with maximum points to spare.
Doosan needs a win against the NC on the 12th to keep their hopes of a third place finish alive, as they need to secure at least a fifth place finish.
Doosan will start the game with veteran Jang Won-jun.
Jang has appeared in nine games this season, posting a 3-4 record with a 4.76 ERA. He seemed to have found his groove early in the season with three straight wins, but hasn't made much of an impact since mid-June. In his last five starts, he has only made it to the fifth inning once.
Still, Lee Seung-yeop will have to rely on Jang Won-jun. Jang Won-jun needs to go as many innings as possible to give the mound some breathing room. 토토사이트