The KIA Tigers beat the LG Twins 4-2 in Gwangju on Oct. 12 to lock up third place and a direct berth in the semi-playoff. Kim Do-young’s eighth-inning homer was his 45th of the season and 100th career.
According to Sports Kyunghyang and Star News, KIA beat LG 4-2 at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field and finished 79-63-2 in third place. Fourth-place LG will face fifth-place Doosan in the wild-card series at Jamsil on Oct. 14. The race for third was settled on the final day.
광고 문의 · 300×250It was tight. Park Jae-hyeon’s first-inning solo shot put KIA ahead and LG’s Park Dong-won tied it in the second. KIA went up again in the fourth when Kim Do-young, hit by a pitch, scored on Kim Sun-bin’s squeeze bunt, but Moon Jeong-bin’s sixth-inning solo homer made it 2-2, Star News said.
The decisive swing
The game turned in the bottom of the eighth. After Park Jae-hyeon led off with a bunt single, Kim Do-young hit LG third reliever Kennedy’s third pitch, a slider, over the center-field fence. Jeon Sang-hyeon then held LG scoreless in the ninth.
The homer was Kim’s 45th of the season, moving him ahead of Sam Hilliard, who had joined him atop the list at 44 a day earlier, Sports Kyunghyang reported. It was his 100th career homer, the 111th player in league history to reach it. By year he has hit 3, 7, 38 (2024), 7 (last year, mostly injured) and 45.
Some outlets said the homer clinched the home-run title, but the Sports Kyunghyang report we confirmed says only that he is alone in first. No direct comments from Kim were quoted.
Postseason schedule
The reward for going straight through is rest. KIA take four days off and open the semi-playoff on Oct. 17 against the winner of LG-Doosan. Manager Lee Beom-ho explained before the game that he put Park Jeong-woo at leadoff because he had hit well against LG starter Lim Chan-gyu.
LG must beat Doosan first to meet KIA. LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop called Go Woo-seok among the strongest cards he currently has. In a short series, bullpen management could be the swing factor.