Samsung beat KIA 6-4 in Game 3 of the KBO playoff at KIA Champions Field in Gwangju on the 29th to take a 2-1 series lead. The Kyunghyang Shinmun said they had ‘turned the tiger’s den upside down’.
According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, Samsung beat KIA 6-4 in Game 3 of the 2026 KBO playoff at KIA Champions Field in Gwangju on the 29th. Having lost Game 1 and won Game 2 to level the series, Samsung now leads 2-1 and needs only one more win to reach the Korean Series. The game see-sawed with the lead changing hands repeatedly before it was settled in the seventh inning.
광고 문의 · 300×250Samsung went ahead 2-0 in the first on a two-run homer by Diaz. In the second, however, starter Choi Won-tae gave up back-to-back RBI singles to Kim Tae-gun and Ha Ju-seok and left after 1.2 innings, and in the third KIA’s Kim Do-young hit a solo homer to put KIA ahead 3-2. In the fifth, Ryu Ji-hyuk hit a two-run homer off KIA starter Keisho Shirakawa to put Samsung back in front 4-3.
Won Tae-in’s call-up and the seventh-inning blow
In the sixth, Won Tae-in took the mound and gave up a solo homer to leadoff hitter Na Sung-bum, tying the game at 4-4. The Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that with closer Kim Jae-yoon unable to join because of injury, Samsung kept Won, a starter, ready in the bullpen and used him at the decisive moment. Won finished the sixth without further damage.
The game turned in the seventh. With one out, Lee Jae-hyun reached base and Kim Ji-chan laid down a sacrifice bunt, then Park Seung-gyu drove a ball to right-center to bring the runner home from second and make it 5-4. Gu Ja-wook then hit an RBI single off KIA left-hander Lee Eui-ri on a 2-2 count to extend the lead to 6-4.
Won retired two batters in the bottom of the seventh and left with 1.2 innings and one run allowed, earning his first postseason win. KIA brought in closer Jeon Sang-hyeon with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth, and he held Samsung for 1.2 innings, but KIA could not score again. KIA used eight relievers in an all-out effort yet stalled at four runs.
The schedule and starters for Game 4 did not appear in the reports this newspaper checked. A headline on a related Kyunghyang article suggested the series would move to Daegu, but no date or time could be confirmed. Samsung is one win from the Korean Series, while KIA must win every remaining game.