Four of the five professional baseball games scheduled to take place at 6:30 p.m. on the 20th were canceled early due to the influence of the monsoon front.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) officially announced at around 3:50 p.m. on the 20th that the games scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at Jamsil (Doosan Bears-LG Twins), Incheon (KIA Tigers-SSG Landers), Suwon (NC Dinos-KT Wiz), and Daejeon (Kiwoom Heroes-Hanwha Eagles) were canceled due to rain.
The monsoon began in earnest nationwide, including the metropolitan area, from the night before. As of 9 a.m. on the 20th, a heavy rain advisory was issued for Seoul, and a heavy rain warning was announced for the Gyeonggi-Incheon area. Although Jamsil, Incheon, Suwon, and Daejeon all prepared for the monsoon by setting up rain covers after receiving advance weather forecasts, the games were decided to be canceled early, about three hours before the scheduled start, as the rain did not stop. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, rain is expected to continue until the morning of the 21st.
There is one piece of good news for baseball fans: the Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, where the classic series between the Lotte Giants and the Samsung Lions will take place, is preparing for a normal start at 6:30 p.m. as the rain forecast has disappeared. As a result, Lotte can challenge their record of 23 consecutive sellouts. Lotte will send foreign pitcher Alex Gamboa, while Samsung will start Kim Dae-ho.
Meanwhile, the four games canceled on that day will be rescheduled later instead of being organized as doubleheaders, despite being weekend games. The KBO has decided not to hold doubleheaders during the hot weather period from June to August.
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