By Yoo Jee-ho
GWANGJU, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- Slugger Kim Do-yeong homered twice and drove in four runs, while starter James Naile tossed seven innings of one-run ball, as the Kia Tigers rallied past the LG Twins 5-1 to begin their South Korean baseball postseason series at home Saturday.
Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Oct. 17, 2026. (Yonhap)
Kim smacked a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie and then drove in an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul. Kim then put an exclamation mark with a two-run home run in the eighth inning.
Naile held the Twins to a run on four hits over seven effective innings in front of a sellout crowd of 18,000.
Game 2 is 2 p.m. Sunday at the same Gwangju stadium.
In the past 10 editions of the best-of-five first round, teams that claimed the first game went on to win the series nine times.
Kia Tigers starter James Naile pitches against the LG Twins during Game 1 of the first round in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Oct. 17, 2026. (Yonhap)
jeeho@yna.co.kr
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