The KIA Tigers opened the semi-playoff series with a win behind Kim Do-young.
KIA beat the LG Twins 5-1 in Game 1 of the 2026 KBO postseason semi-playoff, a best-of-five series, on the 17th at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field. The Tigers, who finished the regular season in third place, took the first win against LG, which had advanced through the wild-card decision game.
Kim Do-young was at the center of the victory. Starting at third base and batting third, Kim went 2-for-3 with two home runs, four runs driven in and two runs scored. He broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out and no runners on, he pulled the first pitch from LG starter Anders Tolhurst, a 149-kilometer-per-hour fastball, over the left-field wall for a solo home run that traveled 125 meters.
KIA added to its lead in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on first and third and no outs after a series of LG errors, Kim hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Park Jae-hyun scored from third to make it 3-1. In the bottom of the eighth, Kim's second home run sealed the outcome. With two outs and a runner on first, he turned on a breaking ball from Jang Hyun-sik to make it 5-1.
Kim had also hit a go-ahead two-run homer against LG in the regular-season finale, clinching third place for KIA. He delivered again with decisive extra-base hits in his first game of the postseason.
"It was a very important first game, so I'm really happy we won, and I feel even better because I think I played a part in that win," Kim said after the game. On homering in three consecutive games against LG, he said: "I didn't try to approach it any differently just because it was LG. I trusted what I've been doing and focused only on what I could do at the plate."