KIA beat Samsung 5-1 in Game 1 of the best-of-five KBO Playoff on October 26 at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu. Kim Do-young went 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and a stolen base.
According to Kyunghyang Shinmun, Kim drew a walk after a seven-pitch battle with two out in the first inning, then stole second. He scored on Castro's single to right for the first run. A wild throw home by Samsung's right fielder let Castro advance to third, and Na Sung-bum's double made it 2-0.
광고 문의 · 300×250In the third, with two out and a runner on first, Castro hit a two-run homer after a nine-pitch at-bat to make it 4-0. Samsung pulled one back in the bottom of the fifth but got no closer. KIA then used Jung Hae-young, Lee Eui-ri, Cho Sang-woo, Kwak Do-gyu and Jeon Sang-hyun to protect the 5-1 win.
Kim's 13-pitch battle
Per Kyunghyang, Kim reached base three times: a walk and steal in the first, a left-field single in the third and a double to left-center in the eighth. He also recorded his 11th stolen base of the season. Without a homer, he still rattled Samsung's pitching through on-base ability and baserunning.
In the fifth he went 13 pitches against Samsung starter Fedek before flying out foul to right. Kyunghyang said this ties the playoff record for most pitches to one batter; Fedek threw 24 of his 94 pitches to Kim alone before leaving.
Nail's ejection and Game 2
KIA starter Nail was cruising, with one hit and no runs on 46 pitches through four innings, but in the bottom of the fifth a two-seam fastball hit the back of Park Seung-gyu's helmet and he was ejected. Jung Hae-young allowed only one run in relief, and Cho Sang-woo escaped two long drives in the seventh thanks to left fielder Park Jae-hyun.
KIA finished third in the regular season and swept LG 3-0 in the Semi-Playoff. Kyunghyang noted that teams winning Game 1 of a best-of-five playoff have reached the Korean Series in 27 of 35 cases, or 77.1 percent. Game 2 is on October 27 in Daegu, with KIA's Oller facing Samsung's Hurado.