'Unbelievable!' Kim Do-young's miraculous two-run homer in the 8th inning sparks a dramatic finish, KIA clinches direct berth to thePlayoffs as the 3rd seed... 4th-place LG set for Wild Card showdown with 5th-place Doosan [Gwangju On-Site Review]

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The KIA Tigers defeated the LG Twins, powered by a two-run homer from Kim Do-young in the bottom of the 8th inning in their final regular season game, to dramatically secure a direct ticket to the 준Playoffs.

KIA won 4-2 against LG in the final regular season game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League, held at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on the 12th.

With this victory, KIA finished the regular season in 3rd place with a record of 79 wins, 63 losses, and 2 ties, successfully securing a direct berth to the 준Playoffs. Meanwhile, LG finished the season in 4th place with a record of 78 wins, 75 losses, and 1 tie.

As a result, LG will face '5th-place' Doosan Bears in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series at Jamsil Stadium on the 14th after one day of rest. The victorious KIA will take on the winner of the LG-Doosan Wild Card Series in Game 1 of the 준Playoffs starting on the 17th, following four days of rest.

KIA lined up their starting batting order with Park Jeong-woo (right fielder), Park Jae-hyeon (left fielder), Kim Do-young (third baseman), Castro (first baseman), Na Seung-beom (designated hitter), Kim Sun-bin (second baseman), Ha Ju-seok (shortstop), Kim Tae-goon (catcher), and Kim Ho-ryeong (center fielder). Yang Hyeon-jong was the starting pitcher. It was notable that Park Jeong-woo took the unconventional role of leadoff hitter.

Before the game, KIA manager Lee Beom-ho explained the reasoning behind using Park Jeong-woo as the leadoff hitter: "He hit well against (Lim) Chan-gyu in the previous game. On the other hand, (Park) Jae-hyeon has never been able to make contact with Lim Chan-gyu's pitches. So I placed Jeong-woo in the 1st spot and Jae-hyeon in the 2nd." Park Jeong-woo had a strong record against Lim Chan-gyu this year, hitting .667 (2 hits in 3 at-bats).

Regarding Yang Hyeon-jong's pitching usage, he stated, "If he pitches well, we will let him continue. If he struggles early on, all our pitchers are waiting, so we can make a quick move." He added, "We will think of it as taking one inning at a time starting from the 1st. (Yang) Hyeon-jong also said he would do his best to pitch. First, we will see how things go in the early innings and then observe how the game unfolds. Still, I don't think there will be any problem pitching for at least one full rotation without issues. Just in case, I cut him off around 80 pitches in his last appearance because he might need to pitch again after four days of rest. I don't see it as a big issue," expressing his trust.

LG set their starting batting order with Park Hae-min (center fielder), Song Chan-ui (left fielder), Austin (designated hitter), Moon Jeong-bin (first baseman), Moon Bo-kyung (third baseman), Lee Jae-won (right fielder), Gu Bon-hyeok (shortstop), Park Dong-won (catcher), and Shin Min-jae (second baseman). Lim Chan-gyu was LG's starting pitcher.

Before the game, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop briefly stated his determination to "win no matter what," then explained Son Ju-young's absence: "(Son) Ju-young said he had a sore throat yesterday. Since he said his neck wouldn't turn, I thought it would be better for him to get treatment quickly, so I sent him up to Seoul."

Manager Yeom emphasized, "We will deploy (Go) Woo-seok depending on the situation. We will watch the game to decide whether to use him early or late. He can be called our strongest card among those we currently have. Yesterday, the scouting team and coaching staff gathered together and discussed this issue since (Son) Ju-young is unavailable, and made a decision."

KIA scored first in the bottom of the 1st inning. A big hit came out. With one out and no runners on base, Park Jae-hyeon attacked Lim Chan-gyu's curveball as the second pitch with a 0-1 count, smashing a solo home run over the right field fence. The distance was 120m. It was Park Jae-hyeon's 19th home run of the season.

LG immediately counterattacked in the top of the 2nd inning. They responded with an equally big hit. With two outs and no runners on base, catcher Park Dong-won attacked a curveball as the sixth pitch after a full count, drawing a tying solo home run over the left field fence. The distance was 120m. It was Park Dong-won's 14th home run of the season.

KIA broke the tie again. In the bottom of the 4th inning, leadoff hitter Kim Do-young reached on a hit by pitch, and Castro followed with a single to left-center field, creating a bases-loaded situation with runners on 1st and 3rd. Na Seung-beom then grounded out to shortstop, but subsequent batter Kim Sun-bin successfully executed a surprise squeeze bunt toward first base, bringing runner Kim Do-young home from 3rd base. It was the moment KIA took a 2-1 lead.

In response, LG immediately played their trump card. Instead of removing starter Lim Chan-gyu, they brought in Go Woo-seok directly. Go Woo-seok struck out Ha Ju-seok and Kim Tae-goon consecutively, perfectly putting out the fire.

Then, in the 6th inning, LG tied the game again. KIA removed starter Yang Hyeon-jong and brought in Jo Sang-woo as their second pitcher. With two outs and no runners on base, the next batter was Moon Jeong-bin. Moon Jeong-bin hit a forkball as the second pitch with a 1-0 count, smashing a tying solo home run over the center field fence. The distance was 125m. The score was tied 2-2. It was Moon Jeong-bin's 19th home run of the season. With this home run, Moon Jeong-bin succeeded in hitting home runs against all teams this season.

However, KIA had a superstar. In the bottom of the 8th inning, LG removed Go Woo-seok and brought in their third pitcher, Kennedy. Leadoff hitter Park Jae-hyeon reached on a bunt single toward third base. Then Kim Do-young stepped up to the plate. With a favorable 2-0 count, Kim Do-young hit a slider as the third pitch, drawing a two-run home run over the center field fence. Champions Field erupted in ecstasy. With this home run, Kim Do-young achieved his 100th career home run. It was also Kim Do-young's 45th home run of the season. Ultimately, Jeon Sang-hyeon, who took the mound in the 9th inning, pitched a scoreless inning, securing KIA's direct berth to the 준Playoffs as the 3rd seed.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original