KIA secured a direct ticket to the semi-playoffs after a 4-2 victory over the LG Twins in the final game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field. The decisive blow came in the bottom of the eighth inning when Kim Do-young hit a two-run home run, turning a tense 2-2 tie into a game-winning lead and clinching both third place for his team and his own first career home run title.
Entering the day, just 0.5 games separated the third-place KIA squad from fourth-place LG, as KIA had one more draw. A draw would have been enough to preserve third place, but the match remained deadlocked until the late frames. In the bottom of the eighth, leadoff batter Park Jae-hyun ignited the offense with a surprise bunt single against LG relief pitcher Jon Kennedy. Following two balls, Kim capitalized on a middle-of-the-plate slider from Kennedy, driving it over the center-field wall despite an unsuccessful chase by LG center fielder Park Hae-min.
Final Day Drama and Individual Titles
The game’s offensive output started early when Park Jae-hyun hit a solo home run in the first inning to put KIA ahead. LG responded in the second inning with a solo shot from Park Dong-won to tie the score at 1-1. KIA reclaimed the lead in the fourth inning with a safety squeeze bunt by Kim Sun-bin that scored a runner from third after a one-out setup.
KIA starting pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong limited LG to one run over five innings before exiting. In the sixth inning, reliever Cho Sang-woo surrendered a game-tying solo home run to Moon Jeong-bin with two outs, setting up the dramatic eighth-inning heroics. Relief pitcher Jeon Sang-hyun closed out the ninth frame to secure the victory and confirm the third-place finish.
For Kim Do-young, the 45th home run of the season also marked his 100th career home run. The late-inning blast allowed him to edge past Sam Hilliard (KT), who had tied him for the league lead with 44 home runs the previous day, securing the home run crown on the final day of the regular season. Kim also secured the slugging percentage title after surpassing Austin Dean (LG).
The final day of regular-season play settled several other individual league titles across the board. Victor Reyes established a single-season hits record with 211 hits to capture his third most-hits title. Sam Hilliard led the league with 139 RBIs to claim the RBI crown. Koo Ja-wuk secured two titles with a .371 batting average and a .458 on-base percentage, while Gwak Bin earned two pitching titles with a 2.24 ERA and 197 strikeouts. The wins title was shared between Ko Young-pyo (KT) and Im Chan-gyu (LG) with 15 victories each, and Kim Jae-yun (Samsung) picked up the save title with 35 saves.
Postseason Matchups and Schedule
With KIA locking up the third seed, the final postseason bracket is set. The fourth-place LG Twins and fifth-place Doosan Bears will meet at Jamsil Baseball Stadium for the wild-card series. Doosan must win all games of the series to advance to the semi-playoffs, whereas LG needs only one win or a draw to progress to the next round.
The winner of the wild-card series will travel to face KIA in the semi-playoffs, which are scheduled as a best-of-five series starting at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field. The victor of that series will move on to face the regular-season runner-up, Samsung, in the playoff round beginning on the 25th, with the regular-season champion KT awaiting the ultimate winner in the Korean Series starting on November 2.
