The professional baseball KIA Tigers took the lead with unstoppable moves in the playoffs (PO, 3 wins out of 5).
In the visiting game against the Samsung Lions in the first game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Playoffs held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 26th, KIA won 5-1 with starter James Nail's good pitching and Harold Castro and Junsu Han hitting home runs.
KIA, who won the first playoff game following the semi-playoffs, is now looking to advance to the Korean Series for the first time in two years.
In the historical best-of-five playoffs, the team that won the first game advanced to the Korean Series 27 times out of 35, recording a series victory probability of 77.1%.
In the first game, both teams' aces, Chris Fedek and James Nail, appeared as starting pitchers, but things were different from the beginning.
KIA scored the first run in the top of the first inning when Kim Do-young, who walked after two outs, succeeded in stealing second base, and Harold Castro was called in with a timely hit to right.
While Kim Do-young was hitting home, Castro took advantage of Samsung right fielder Kim Seong-yoon's throwing error and advanced to third base, and follow-up batter Na Seong-beom hit a double to the left field line to make it 2-0.
In the top of the third inning, Kim Do-young hit a left-field hit with two outs, and after a tenacious game in which Castro kicked five fouls, he hit a two-run home run to widen the lead to 4-0.
KIA gained momentum and ran away with a 5-0 lead in the top of the 4th inning, with leadoff hitter Han Jun-su also adding 1 point with a superior solo arch.
KIA clearly took the lead, but an unexpected variable occurred.
Nail, who was pitching with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, hit Samsung's Park Seung-gyu's helmet and was sent off for a 'headshot.'
Nail allowed only one hit in 4 ⅓ innings and threw only 57 pitches, but was forced to leave the mound per regulation.
When Park Seung-gyu succeeded in stealing second base against the changed pitcher Jeong Hae-young, Samsung made up for one run by bringing in Kim Young-woong with a left-handed hit.
KIA, who prevented additional runs, maintained the team's victory with no hits and no runs starting from the 6th inning with Lee Ui-ri (1⅓ innings), Jo Sang-woo (1⅓ innings), Kwak Do-gyu (⅓ innings), and Jeon Sang-hyun (1 inning) pitching successively.
Samsung suffered a complete loss as their trusted starting pitcher failed and the team's batting lineup only produced two hits.
Castro, who had 3 hits and 3 RBIs in 4 at-bats, including a two-run home run, was selected as the Daily Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Kim Do-young stirred the field, recording 2 hits in 3 at bats, including a double, 2 runs, and 1 stolen base.
KIA Lee Ui-ri, who took the mound in the bottom of the 6th inning, became the first winning pitcher in the postseason by striking out 3, allowing no hits, and no runs in 1⅓ innings with a fastball in the 150 km range.
KIA won for the first time in 24 years after suffering five consecutive playoff losses since the fourth game of the playoffs against the LG Twins on October 30, 2002.
In the postseason, they had a 6-game winning streak starting from Game 4 of the Korean Series against the Samsung Lions on October 26, 2024.
The second round of the playoffs will be held at the same location at 6:30 pm on the 27th.
KIA announced Adam Oler as the starting pitcher, and Samsung announced Ariel Jurado as the starting pitcher.
On this day, 23,550 people entered Samsung Lions Park, bringing the cumulative attendance of this postseason to 108,650.
Fall baseball has sold out 42 consecutive games, starting with Game 1 of the 2023 Korean Series.
