(Suwon = Yonhap News) Reporters Jang Hyun-gu, Yoo Ji-ho, Kim Kyung-yoon, and Lee Dae-ho = KT Wiz took the first step toward winning their second overall championship in five years.
KT, ranked first in the regular league, led 8-0 in the first game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Postseason Korean Series (KS, 4 wins out of 7) held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do on the 3rd, but barely won 8-7 after being harassed by the Samsung Lions' fierce pursuit.
Until last year, the winning probability of the team that won the first game in KS was 73.8% (31 out of 42 times).
The second game between the two teams will be held at the same location at 6:30 pm on the 4th.
In the first inning, Samsung's leadoff hitter Kim Ji-chan got on base with an infield hit by the shortstop, but Koo Ja-wook struck out on first base with one out and Kim Ji-chan, who was stealing second base, was caught and the chance was wasted.
After a shift in offense and defense, KT beat Samsung starter Choi Won-tae and scored 3 points. After Choi Won-jun, the first batter, came out with a single, he stole second base during Ahn Hyun-min's third at-bat and settled at third base due to Choi Won-tae's wild pitch. Following Ahn Hyun-min's walk, with one out and runners on first and third base, Sam Hilliard, the regular league's RBI leader (139), hit a timely double to sweep a runner to left-center.
Hilliard, who played as a center fielder and batted fourth, brilliantly cleared a double hit that went over Park Seung-gyu's head during defense in the first inning with a jump, and exploded with a long hit at the plate.
Then, with 2 outs and runners on third base, Sang-su Kim sent Hilliard home with an infield single. Samsung second baseman Ryu Ji-hyuk tried to clear the hit in the middle of the game with a reverse move, but missed the ball at the end.
KT opened the scoring with Kim Min-hyuk's double in the middle of the third inning, then ran away with a 5-0 lead thanks to Ahn Hyun-min's two-run double, knocking out Choi Won-tae. When Ahn Hyun-min saw Choi Won-tae's flat change-up, he swung it like lightning and sent it over the left fence.
KT took a 5-0 lead in the 5th inning with catcher Han Seung-taek's left-center-center solo shot and Kim Hyun-soo's superior two-run shot in the 6th inning to go up 8-0 and seemed to win easily.
Samsung, which had been one-sidedly pushed back, fought back in the top of the 7th inning. Samsung, which had been hit by 13 consecutive batters from KT starter Davis Daniel in the 2nd inning to Ji-chan Kim in the 6th, made up for 2 runs with Park Seung-gyu's left-field hit and Koo Ja-wook's two-run home run to left-center at the start of the 7th inning. Then, Llewin Diaz hit a right-handed hit to bring down Danielle.
Samsung scored its third run against KT left-hander Logan Allen with Ryu Ji-hyuk's ground ball in a golden opportunity with bases loaded and no outs, followed by pinch hitter Kim Seong-yoon's hit and Kim Young-woong's infield hit. With 2 outs and 2nd and 3rd bases remaining, Lee Jae-hyun kicked up a breaking ball from KT sidearm relief pitcher Kim Jeong-woon and scored 2 RBIs and a timely hit to left, narrowing the gap to 5-8.
When Son Dong-hyun allowed a foul home run to Kim Heon-gon and Lee Jae-hyun, manager Lee Kang-cheol used a super strategy of inserting Kim Jeong-woon at a ball count of 1 ball and 1 strike, but Lee Jae-hyun took a nice hit.
Samsung went up 6-8 in the 8th inning with Kim Seong-yoon's timely hit on first and second bases with one out, Park Seung-gyu's walk and Koo Ja-wook's hit. The game almost took an unknown direction when KT's closer Park Young-hyun scored a point with a wild pitch with the bases loaded and 2 outs, but Samsung's chase came to an end when pinch hitter Kim Hyun-jun's batted ball was caught by the left fielder.
It was fortunate for KT that 3rd base runner Koo Ja-wook, who was suffering from a sore thigh, could not reach the home run when Ryu Ji-hyuk's fly ball to left field with bases loaded and 1 out.
After Daniel retired after striking out 7 and allowing 3 runs in 6 innings, Logan (2 runs in ⅓ innings), Jeong-woon Kim, and Won-seok Oh (1 run in ⅓ innings) did not do their jobs, leaving KT in a state of fear.
The first game was also filled with 10,000 won spectators (17,700 people), and the fall baseball season was sold out for 47 consecutive games starting with the first game of the 2023 KS.
