Kim Do-yeong's record-tying grand slam sends Kia Tigers past LG in final Jamsil game

Kim Do-yeong delivered the defining blow of Jamsil Baseball Stadium’s final game, a 145-meter (476-foot) grand slam that powered the Kia Tigers to a 13-1 rout of the LG Twins on Tuesday and a three-game sweep in the first round of the playoffs.

The win sends Kia to the best-of-five second round of the playoffs against the second-place Samsung Lions, with Game 1 set for Sunday at Daegu Samsung Lions Park.

Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which opened in 1982 and hosted 45 years of Korean baseball’s most memorable games, closes at the end of this season. LG’s elimination made Tuesday’s game the last official game at the ballpark, played before a sellout crowd of 23,650.

The game was decided early. Kia led 3-0 in the second inning, with Na Sung-bum’s solo home run standing as the game-winner, when the bases were loaded with one out for Kim. LG had pulled starter Carlos Carrasco after he was hit hard in the inning, and reliever Jon Kennedy gave up an RBI single to left to Park Jae-hyun before facing Kim.

The matchup was a replay of the regular-season finale in Gwangju on Oct. 12, which decided third place. Fourth-place LG needed a win to overtake Kia and secure a direct berth in the first round of the playoffs, while Kia needed only a tie to hold third. The game stayed level at 2-2 into the eighth inning, when Kim, with a runner on first and no outs, sent a Kennedy slider over the center-field wall. The home run clinched the season home run title for Kim with 45 and earned Kia four valuable days of rest, while LG had to go straight into the Wildcard game against the Doosan Bears before reaching the first round.

The rematch went Kim’s way again on Tuesday. He crushed a Kennedy fastball over the left-center field fence, the deepest part of the Jamsil stadium. The 145-meter shot is the longest home run ever hit in the first round of the playoffs since the KBO began officially measuring distances in 2000. Across all postseason play, it matched the 145-meter home run hit by the Doosan Bears’ Tyrone Woods against Samsung in Game 6 of the 2001 Korean Series at the stadium on Oct. 28, 2001.

Kia pulled away to 9-0 on an RBI hit by Park Jung-woo in the fifth and Na’s second solo homer of the night to center in the sixth. Starter Keisho Shirakawa wobbled in the sixth and gave up a run, but Han Jun-su’s solo shot to right-center in the seventh shut down any LG comeback.

For LG, the loss ended a 2026 season undermined by injuries from the start.

Moon Bo-gyeong was hurt at the World Baseball Classic in March and missed the Opening Day roster. You Young-chan then had elbow surgery and was ruled out for the season. Starter Son Ju-young moved to the closer role and held up well, but the bullpen was weaker than last season. Austin Dean put together an MVP-caliber year, but core hitters struggled through deep slumps, leaving the development of gap-power hitters Moon Jeong-bin and Song Chan-eui as the main consolation.

The injuries kept coming. Starter Song Seung-ki went down, and late in the season veteran reliever Kim Jin-sung and Oh Ji-hwan were also hurt. Go Woo-suk returned from the United States but joined too late to make the postseason roster. Son missed the regular-season finale against Kia with an acute herniated disc, and LG ceded third place to Kia to finish fourth.

Oh made the postseason roster, but Shin Min-jae injured his hamstring after a bunt single in the Wildcard game. Outmatched in both power and momentum, LG offered little resistance in the first round.

Having won two of the previous three Korean Series, LG had set out to win one more title in Jamsil stadium's final season. Even after the Twins dropped the first two games, LG fans formed a sea of yellow in the stands, hoping for a miracle. After the final out, many lingered, unable to hide their disappointment.

“We were outplayed by Kia across the whole series,” said LG manager Youm Kyoung-youb. “Our fans had high expectations this season, and I’m sorry we didn’t get results to match. We’ll prepare well starting with wrap-up training to address what we lacked this season, and next year we’ll overcome the difficulties we went through this year. We’ll make sure it can be another good season.”

“If there’s something we gained, it’s that Song Chan-eui and Moon Jeong-bin grew,” Youm continued. “Overall, it was a difficult season in which both individual players and the team struggled, but the players gave their best game by game to get this far. Because we experienced [failure] in 2024 [right after winning the title], we prepared well this year too, but there were areas where we fell short. I think we need to make changes. The players need to grow through more desperate, harder-working baseball for the team to improve. We’ll play good baseball by helping players change their individual mindsets.”