The race for third place and a direct berth in the first playoff round is entering its final week in South Korea. Kia and LG will meet in the regular-season finale on Oct. 12.
Regular-season champion KT Wiz has already secured first place, while the Samsung Lions are locked into second. The Doosan Bears will finish fifth after losing to the LG Twins on Oct. 7 and will open the postseason in the wild-card round.
After the Oct. 7 games, Kia sat third at 76-62-2, while the Twins were 77-63-1. Third place brings four days of rest and a direct berth in the best-of-five first round. The fourth-place team must start in the wild-card round against the fifth-place finisher.
Kia had four games left. It was scheduled to visit the NC Dinos in Changwon on Oct. 9, then host the SSG Landers, Lotte Giants and LG in Gwangju. The Twins were due to play two games against Lotte in Busan on Oct. 9 and 10. Their meeting with Kia on Oct. 12 will be their final regular-season game.
Kia has lost 11 of its 15 meetings with the Dinos this season but has winning records against its other three remaining opponents. That includes an 8-7 mark against the Twins. Kia enters the final stretch after winning four of its last five games. LG has just snapped an eight-game losing streak.
In the wild-card round, fourth place hosts fifth place and can advance with one win or a tie across two games. The fifth-place team must win twice in a row. Since the round was introduced in 2015, the fifth seed has advanced only once. Finishing third also gives a team more time to arrange its starting rotation for the best-of-five series.