Two Kim Do-young Homers Hand KIA a 5-1 Game 1
A first-pitch go-ahead homer, a sacrifice fly, a two-run clincher. KIA beat LG 5-1 in Gwangju on Saturday, and every time the Tigers pushed a run across, Kim Do-young was at the plate.
He hit the first pitch out
LG struck first: Song Chan-ui took James Naylor deep to left in the 2nd. KIA answered at once, with Harold Castro tying it 1-1 over the right-field wall in the bottom half.
The game turned in the 4th. With one out, Kim Do-young jumped on LG starter Anders Tolhurst's first pitch and put it in the left-field seats for a 2-1 lead.
The runs LG gave away
LG had runners on first and second with none out in the 6th and grounded into a double play. The bottom of the inning went the other way: left fielder Song Chan-ui dropped a fly ball, third baseman Moon Bo-gyeong booted a grounder, and KIA had first and third with nobody out.
Kim cashed it in with a sacrifice fly to right.
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The 8th-inning clincher
Two out, runner on first in the 8th. LG's fifth pitcher, Jang Hyun-sik, threw a splitter and Kim sent it over the center-field wall. 5-1.
Kim finished 2-for-3 with two homers and four RBIs; two home runs ties the record for a single semi-playoff game.
Naylor goes seven
Naylor allowed one run on four hits over seven innings with six strikeouts; the only homer he gave up came in the 2nd. Closer Jeon Sang-hyeon locked down the 9th for the save.
Tolhurst took the loss, giving up three runs (two earned) in five innings. Park Hae-min went 3-for-4 for LG.
Game 2 is Sunday at 2 p.m.
The best-of-five semi-playoff has been played 17 times, and the Game 1 winner has reached the playoffs 12 times, or 70.6%.
Game 2 is at 2 p.m. on Oct. 18 at the same Gwangju park, with Lim Chan-kyu (LG) and Adam Oller (KIA) listed as probable starters.