Battle for 3rd seed in KBO postseason comes down to regular-season finale

The weekslong battle for the third seed in the South Korean baseball postseason will come down to the final regular-season meeting between the combatants. The Kia Tigers blew a chance to clinch the No. 3 spot at home Sunday, when they lost to the Lotte Giants 4-1 at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju. A victory would have given the Tigers a direct ticket to the best-of-five first round of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason as the third seed and sent their rivals LG Twins to the wild card round as the fourth seed. The Doosan Bears, who clinched the No. 5 seed Wednesday, will be the other team in the wild card series. With Sunday's loss by the Tigers, the winner of Monday's showdown between the Tigers and the Twins in Gwangju will grab the third seed. That game will begin at 6:30 p.m. It will be the final game of the regular season for both clubs. The Tigers are currently in third place with a win-loss-tie record of 78-63-2, and the Twins are sitting in fourth place at 78-64-1. The Tigers have a slight edge in their season series against the Twins