Professional baseball SSG Landers will challenge the fifth-place match in the final game of the season. 

SSG will play the final game of the "2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League" season against the Kiwoom Heroes at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 30th. In the final game of the season, one-year farming can be decided. 안전놀이터

SSG, which ranks sixth in the league with 71 wins, two draws and 70 losses and a .504 winning rate this season, is chasing fifth-ranked KT (72 wins, two draws and 70 losses) by 0.5 game. If it wins the final game of the season, it will tie with KT to determine the ranking through a match between fifth-ranked teams. If it loses, it ends the season in sixth place. 

The KBO League has a rule that if the ranking of the regular season is tied, the ranking will be determined based on the opponent team's performance, multiple points between teams, and the ranking of the previous year. However, the first and fifth places do not apply these rules and hold ranking matches to determine their ranking. In the history of the KBO League, ranking matches were held only in 1986 and 2021. 

Looking back on 2021, the most recent time, KT and Samsung were exactly tied with 76 wins, 9 draws, 59 losses, and a .563 winning rate, and eventually determined the winning team of the regular season through the first-place match. Samsung, which was ahead in its opponent, held the first-place match at its home stadium, but KT won the regular season by 1-0 thanks to starter William Cuevas' one hit, three walks, eight strikeouts and no-run pitching in seven innings. That year, KT gained momentum and even won its first Korean Series championship, while Samsung was eliminated from the playoffs to finish the season in third place. 

If SSG beats Kiwoom to clinch the fifth place match on the day, it will be the third ranking match in the KBO league and the first time in the history of fifth place. KT and SSG were neck and neck in their showdowns this season, with eight wins and eight losses. As KT (92 points) is ahead of SSG (87 points) in multiple points scored between the teams, if the fifth place match is held, it will be held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon. 

The only case in which SSG, which must be tied with KT, can play in autumn baseball is to win against Kiwoom. Even if the team wins a draw, SSG will finish sixth. In an important game that will determine the final outcome of this season, SSG announced foreign pitcher Drew Anderson as its starting pitcher. 

Anderson, who joined the SSG as a substitute for Robert Duggar, joined the KBO League as the first substitute for this season. Anderson, who can speed up to 150.7 kilometers per hour on average, pitched fastballs with speeds of over 150 kilometers per hour, displaying his ace potential. He has posted 10 wins and three losses and an ERA of 4.07 in 23 games (110 ⅔ innings). Against Kiwoom, he had three wins and an ERA of 2.21 in four games (20 ⅓ innings). However, as he has not prepared for this season as a starting pitcher, he has seen his physical stamina slightly decline in the second half of this season. He has been struggling since September, as he recorded one win and one loss with an ERA of 7.00 in four games (18 innings). The key to his team is whether he can rebound against Kiwoom, which has good memories. 

SSG manager Lee Soo-yong predicted Roenis Elias as the starting pitcher for the fifth place. Although he had a somewhat disappointing performance with 7 wins, 7 losses and an ERA of 4.08 in 22 games (123 ⅔ innings) this season, he showed strong performance in big games, including four hits (one homer) and six strikeouts and two runs in eight innings in the semi-playoff last year, and winning seven innings, four hits, one walk, and 10 strikeouts against NC on the 26th, when he desperately needed victory. 

However, in order for Elias to have a chance to take the mound, Anderson should lead the final game of the season to victory. Fans are watching to see if SSG can lead the game to the fifth place match for the first time in its history.