Giants eliminated from KBO postseason race

The Lotte Giants were knocked out of the South Korean baseball postseason contention with a loss Sunday.

The Giants fell to the Doosan Bears 7-2 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, and their record now stands at 66-70-6 (wins-losses-ties) with two games remaining on this Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season.

They dropped 3 1/2 games behind the KT Wiz for the fifth and final postseason berth and will not be able to make up that ground.

The Giants’ most recent postseason appearance came in 2017.

They entered the All-Star break in July in third place at 47-39-3 and were within four games of first place on Aug. 3. However, they dropped 12 straight games later that month and have posted the KBO’s second-worst record in the second half at 19-31-3. They have had losing skids of five games and four games in September.

With the Giants out of the running, the NC Dinos, currently in sixth place at 67-67-6, are still in play for fifth place. They have won five straight games to move within 1 1/2 games of the KT Wiz.

Also on Sunday, the Samsung Lions defeated the Kiwoom Heroes 4-2 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul to improve to 73-67-2. They remained in fourth place, now 1 1/2 games behind the SSG Landers for third, and cut their magic number to clinch a postseason spot to one.