Kia’s chances of reaching fall baseball are slim, with only Doosan’s fall as a hope.
With five games left in the regular season, the Kia’s Tigers are looking to clinch a spot in the top five.
On Tuesday, the Tigers lost to the SSG Landers in Gwangju, 5-6, by one run. The loss dropped KIA’s season record to 69 wins, 2 losses, and 68 draws after 139 games.
There were ranking changes on this day. The Doosan Bears, who were ahead of NC (73 wins, 2 draws, 64 losses) and SSG (73 wins, 3 draws, 64 losses) in the standings without a win, suffered a late loss to KT Wiz. With a record of 71-2-64, Doosan dropped from third place to fifth place with the losses to NC and SSG. Their three-game lead over KIA remains intact.
So, what are the chances that KIA can make it to the top five?
While KIA has played 139 games through 10 days, Doosan has played 137, SSG has played 140, and NC has played 139. With a four-game gap between them and NC and SSG, who have a similar number of games remaining, Doosan is the team that KIA can realistically challenge.
Based on their record through 10 days, 바카라사이트 KIA needs to win all five of their remaining games. If Doosan manages to win less than a fifth of their seven games (three wins) in the process, they will have a tiebreaker for fifth place. However, if Doosan finishes the seven games with a 4-3 record, Kia will not be able to secure fifth place even if it wins all five games.
On the other hand, a single loss in five games would ruin Kia’s chances of making the top five. If they go 4-1 in five games, they will have to hope that Doosan can only win two of their seven games. If KIA wins 3-2, Doosan needs to win 1-6, and if they win 2-3, Doosan needs to win 7 to win the tiebreaker. If KIA only wins one game in five, Doosan can lose seven games and still not pull off the upset.
This is just a math calculation, and it’s hard to see KIA pulling off the upset. It is important to consider that the number of points will be doubled at the point where Doosan wins and loses.
“It doesn’t mean we’re good,” said KIA coach Kim Jong-guk, referring to the number of games remaining. We have to win a lot of games first,” he said, adding, “It’s best if the second game (on April 16-17, when Doosan NC SSG will play all of its games) is the deciding game. There is no tomorrow now.”
Now it’s more about luck than skill. Can KIA make a dramatic run into the fall baseball season?