Choi Hyoung-woo of the Samsung Lions hits a single against the NC Dinos during the clubs' Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, May 10. Yonhap

No team in South Korean baseball this season has been as streaky as the Samsung Lions.

They are in the midst of a seven-game winning streak, the longest active run in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). Just two weeks ago, they were mired in their season-worst seven-game losing skid. And that slide came right after a seven-game winning streak from April 10 to April 18, which had catapulted them to first place.

The Lions are the only club to win at least seven in a row and also lose at least seven in a row this year.

Now in third place with a wins-losses-ties record of 21-14-1, the Lions will open the new week with a three-game series against the second-place LG Twins (22-14-0), beginning Tuesday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.

The Lions pitching staff posted an excellent 1.67 ERA last week. Jack O'Loughlin, the Australian left-hander who signed as a temporary replacement for injured Matt Manning, won both of his starts last week while tossing 12 innings of one-run ball with 13 strikeouts. O'Loughlin's four rotation mates -- Won Tae-in, Choi Won-tae, Ariel Jurado and rookie Jang Chan-hee -- each threw a quality start, an outing in which a starter goes at least six innings and allows three or fewer earned runs.

For the Lions' offense, their ageless wonder Choi Hyoung-woo, the oldest hitter in the KBO this year at 42, batted 9-for-17 with two home runs, six RBIs and seven walks over his past six games.

The Twins dropped two out of three against the Hanwha Eagles over the weekend and are 1 1/2 games back of the first-place KT Wiz (23-12-1).

The Wiz themselves couldn't capitalize on a soft pocket of their schedule last week, getting a split in two games against the ninth-place Lotte Giants before picking up a win, a tie and a loss in a three-game set against the last-place Kiwoom Heroes.

The SSG Landers and the Doosan Bears play their Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, May 10. Yonhap

Source: Korea Times News