Kim Do-young explodes with his 44th home run... KIA, Jun-PO magic number ‘1’ (comprehensive)

The professional baseball KIA Tigers are on the verge of advancing directly to the semi-playoffs (quasi-PO).

In the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League home game against SSG Landers held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do on the 10th, KIA won 8-5 with Kim Do-young, Harold Castro, and Na Seong-beom hitting four home runs together.

KIA, ranked 3rd with a season record of 78 wins, 62 losses, 2 draws, and a winning percentage of 0.557, maintained its lead over the 4th place LG Twins by 1 game, reducing the magic number for the semi-PO direct route to '1'.

With two games remaining, KIA will advance to the semi-PO by beating LG with just one win or one draw.

KIA, in a fierce competition for rankings, took the lead with a hot home run that day.

KIA scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning thanks to Castro's solo home run and Kim Ho-ryeong's timely hit.

SSG tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the third inning when Park Seong-han hit a two-run home run.

However, after changing offense and defense, KIA took the lead again by 4-2 when Kim Do-young hit a straight ball and hit a two-run home run that went over the left-center fence.

Kim Do-young, who hit his 44th home run of the season, beat Sam Hilliard (42 home runs, KT Wiz), who ranked second in the category, by two, and solidified his title as home run king for the first time in his career.

SSG made up 1 point with Guillermo Heredia's sacrifice fly in the top of the 5th inning.

However, KIA took the win in the bottom of the 5th inning, with Castro hitting a 3-run home run and Na Seong-beom hitting back-to-back arches to quickly go up 8-3.

SSG made up for 2 runs in the top of the 8th inning with timely hits by Moon Sang-jun and Lim Geun-woo, but was unable to turn it over.

In Busan, LG won 4-3 after a close overtime match with the Lotte Giants.

LG maintained its lead with 3rd place KIA at 1 game and continued its faint hope of advancing directly to the semi-PO.

LG took the lead in the top of the second inning with a double by Moon Jung-bin and Song Chan-eui, but Lotte tied the score with a double by Han Dong-hee and Ko Seung-min after a shift in offense and defense.

LG took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 3rd inning thanks to Moon Jung-bin's timely hit, and then in the top of the 5th inning, Jung-bin Moon added 1 point with a double that hit the right fence to go up 3-1.

In the bottom of the 9th inning, with Lotte looking defeated, with 2 outs and 2nd and 3rd bases, Na Seung-yeop hit a timely hit to right to tie the score at 3-3.

However, with one out in the top of the 10th inning, LG took the opportunity to advance to first and third base with consecutive hits by Moon Jeong-bin and Moon Bo-kyung, and then Song Chan-eui hit an infield hit to score the winning run.

LG's fourth batter, Moon Jeong-bin, led the team's batting lineup with 5 hits and 2 RBIs in 5 at-bats.

Lotte foreign hitter Victor Reyes recorded his 205th hit of the season with 1 hit in 5 at-bats, breaking the record for most hits.

In addition, Reyes took the lead with the most hits, surpassing Wonjun Choi (204 hits, KT Wiz).