A superstar who can't be stopped even if he knows it... KIA Kim Do-young keeps LG in check with multi-gun attack

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Dae-ho = Even the opposing bench's persistent warning command could not stop the superstar's bat.

Professional baseball KIA Tigers' leading hitter Kim Do-young, who gave the team a third-place ticket with a decisive home run at the end of the regular season, once again destroyed the LG Twins mound from the first game of fall baseball.

Kim Do-young started as the third hitter and third baseman in the home game against LG in the first game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO postseason semi-playoffs (quasi-PO, 3 wins out of 5) held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do on the 17th, and led the attack with 2 hits in 3 at-bats, 4 RBIs, and 2 runs.

Of the two hits, one was a final home run and the other was a 2-run home run.

Thanks to Kim Do-young's performance as a problem solver when needed, KIA won the first game 5-1 at home and took the lead.

Kim Do-young's true value came in his second at-bat in the bottom of the fourth inning when the game was tied 1-1.

Kim Do-young caught the first fastball thrown by LG starting pitcher Anders Tolhurst without delay and drew a solo arch that went over the left wall.

It was a batted ball with a concentration of unique power and technique.

At the moment of hitting, the launch angle reached 39 degrees, so it had a trajectory that could easily have been a fly ball in the outfield, but with its fast bat speed and strong wrist strength, it gave the ball some time to fly and sent the ball out of the left field fence.

비거리는 125ｍ로 측정됐다.

Kim Do-young, who brought the trend with one shot, played a role in solving the problem with team batting in the bottom of the sixth inning with a 2-1 lead.

In desperate need of an extra point, he sent a batted ball from first and third base to the outfield, scoring a valuable sacrifice fly RBI that increased the score to 3-1.

여기가 끝이 아니었다.

In his last at-bat in the bottom of the 8th inning with 2 outs and runners on first base, Kim Do-young attacked Jang Hyun-sik's breaking ball and passed it over the center wall to make it 5-1.

LG Battery was trying to avoid a direct confrontation with Kim Do-young, but when a slider thrown in a 3-ball, 1-strike game led to a strike, LG Battery chose a forkball in a full count.

Kim Do-young did not miss this and caught it, sending it flying 125 meters. Even though LG center fielder Park Hae-min had 'spider hands', he couldn't even catch this batted ball that went over the fence.

As a result, Kim Do-young showed off his skills as a 'twin hunter' that had continued since the end of the regular season, even on the postseason stage.

Kim Do-young played a leading role in helping the team secure 3rd place in the regular season by hitting a two-run shot in the 8th inning against LG in Gwangju, the final game of this year's regular season.

At that time, LG, who collapsed due to Kim Do-young's long hit, slipped to 4th place and had to go through the wild card match.

If we turn the clock forward a little further, in the game against LG in Jamsil on the 5th, he hit Woo-Seok Go and hit a 3-run home run in the 9th inning.

The reason why KIA started fall baseball in the semi-PO and LG went through a difficult wild card game all came from Kim Do-young's bat.

Ahead of this series, LG coach Yeom Kyeong-yeop issued a warning, saying, "Kim Do-young was hit at every decisive moment at the end of the season," and "The focus of this series depends on how to catch Kim Do-young."

Even ahead of this day’s game, he again emphasized, “There should be no runners in front of Kim Do-young.”

However, when the lid was opened, the LG mound once again bowed to Kim Do-young's long hit in the most important game.

Kim Do-young proved why he is the league's representative hitter by turning Tolhurst's target, who was trying to pressure him with a deep ball, and Jang Hyun-sik's decisive forkball into a home run.