Kim Do-young's 100th Career Homer Clinches Third Place and Direct Postseason Berth for KIA

A 130-meter swing settles the final standings

Kim Do-young hit his 100th career home run on October 12, 2026, breaking an eighth inning tie and sending the KIA Tigers directly into the KBO postseason's best of five semifinal round. His 45th homer of the season, a 130-meter drive over the center field fence at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field, delivered a 4-2 victory over the LG Twins in the final game of the regular season.

The decisive swing came with no outs and Park Jae-hyun on first base. Kim attacked the third pitch from LG reliever John Kennedy, a slider traveling at 131 kilometers per hour, to turn a 2-2 contest into the victory that secured third place. LG finished fourth and must now face the fifth place Doosan Bears in the wild card round.

For Kim, 23, the home run brought several achievements together: a personal season best, his first home run title and entry into the group of 111 players who have reached 100 career homers in KBO history. It also strengthened his candidacy for another regular season Most Valuable Player award after winning the honor in 2024.

KIA finished with 79 wins, 63 losses and two draws. Reports differ on LG's final record: one account lists 78 wins, 64 losses and one draw, while several others give 78 wins, 65 losses and one draw. The latter totals 144 games, matching KIA's total, and is consistent with the reported final gap of 1.5 games. All accounts agree on the result and the teams' postseason positions.

How the race came down to one game

KIA entered the finale just half a game ahead of LG. A draw would have kept KIA third, while a victory for either team would settle the race in its favor. First place KT, second place Samsung and fifth place Doosan had already secured their positions, leaving this matchup to complete the postseason bracket.

The standings had shifted sharply during the closing stretch. KIA swept LG in three games at Jamsil from October 3 to 5, reversing a race that had appeared to favor the Twins about 10 days before the finale. LG ultimately lost seven consecutive meetings with KIA, a run that proved costly when the two clubs were competing for the same postseason advantage.

KIA could have clinched third a day earlier against Lotte, but a grand slam by Han Dong-hee helped hand the Tigers a defeat. That result pushed the decision into the October 12 meeting in Gwangju, with Yang Hyeon-jong starting for KIA and Lim Chan-kyu for LG.

The prize was not entry into the postseason itself, which both clubs had already secured. It was the ability to skip the wild card round, avoid an immediate elimination contest and begin the next series at home.

Early homers give way to a carefully built run

Park Jae-hyun put KIA ahead in the first inning with his 19th home run of the season. Batting second, he lifted a curveball from Lim over the right field fence for a 120-meter solo shot. LG answered in the second when Park Dong-won hit a curveball from Yang over the left field wall with two outs.

KIA's next lead came through running and bunting rather than power. In the fourth, Kim Do-young was hit by a pitch, then advanced to third on Harold Castro's single to center. After Na Sung-bum popped out in the infield, Kim Sun-bin placed a safety squeeze bunt inside the first base line.

A safety squeeze asks the runner at third to judge the bunt before committing to home, rather than breaking toward the plate as the pitch arrives. Kim Do-young read the ball and scored, putting KIA ahead 2-1. His baserunning had supplied a crucial run well before his home run decided the game.

Lim's throwing error toward first left KIA with another opportunity, but LG brought in Ko Woo-suk. He struck out Ha Ju-seok and Kim Tae-gun on eight pitches to prevent the inning from becoming a larger setback.

Missed chances keep LG within reach

KIA threatened again in the fifth after Park Jeong-woo doubled to left. Park Jae-hyun then drove a ball with home run distance that went foul beyond the pole. Kim Do-young also threatened to produce a hit, but center fielder Park Hae-min made the defensive play that kept KIA from extending its lead.

LG drew level in the sixth. With two outs, Moon Jeong-bin hit a low forkball from Cho Sang-woo over the center field fence for his 19th homer, making the score 2-2. The shot also completed Moon's achievement of hitting a home run against every opposing club that season.

Moon had appeared to reach that mark in Gwangju on September 27, but that game was declared no contest and the home run did not count. His sixth inning drive restored the achievement in a game whose result would stand. LG manager Yeom Kyeong-yeop greeted him with a high five afterward.

The Tigers had another opening in the seventh when pinch hitter Lee Ho-yeon doubled near the right field corner and a bunt moved him to third. Ko Woo-suk struck out Kim Ho-ryeong and Park Jeong-woo, leaving the potential lead run stranded. Those missed opportunities meant that neither team had room for a mistake in the eighth.

Two very different eighth innings

LG began the top of the eighth with a single to left by Park Hae-min. KIA turned to Jeon Sang-hyeon, and the Twins tried to move the runner forward with a bunt by Song Chan-eui. The ball instead dropped in front of the catcher, allowing KIA to force Park out at second.

Austin then grounded into a double play at second base, ending the inning without a run. LG had begun with a runner aboard and no outs, but failed to turn that position into a lead.

KIA's attempt to use a bunt in the bottom half had the opposite result. Park Jae-hyun placed a surprise bunt toward third base and reached safely. Kim Do-young followed with the decisive home run off Kennedy, giving Park a role in three of KIA's four runs: he hit the opening homer and scored ahead of Kim in the eighth.

Jeon completed two scoreless innings through the ninth to close the game. Yang had established the pitching foundation with five innings of three hits and one run. Between them, Yang and Jeon covered seven of the nine innings while allowing just one of LG's two runs.

Kim finishes the home run race at 45

Kim entered the final day tied with KT's Hilliard at 44 home runs. Hilliard had drawn level after hitting homers in three consecutive plate appearances during the preceding weekend. LG's Austin was also in the race with 41.

Kim's eighth inning drive took him to 45, and the final reports identified him as the season's home run champion for the first time. He reached that total despite time away for the Asian Games. The winning shot therefore settled both a team contest and an individual title race on the same swing.

The scale of his season is also visible in his career total. Of his 100 career home runs, 45 came in this campaign. That is 45 percent of his total, with the latest one delivering the exact result KIA needed to improve its postseason starting position.

The MVP award has not been decided. Kim's home run title and decisive contribution in the finale make him a leading candidate, but those achievements should not be confused with an announced award result. His immediate task is now the series beginning in Gwangju on October 17.

What third place changes for KIA and LG

KIA will host the wild card winner for the opening two games of the semifinal round on October 17 and 18, both at 2 p.m. The series is best of five, meaning the first club to win three games advances to face Samsung.

Games 3 and 4 are scheduled for October 20 and 21 at the wild card winner's home ground. If a fifth game is needed, KIA will host it on October 23.

LG and Doosan begin their wild card series at Jamsil on October 14 at 6:30 p.m. The rules favor fourth place LG: one win or one draw is enough to advance. Doosan must win both possible games to reach the next round. LG retains that substantial advantage even after losing the race for third.

KBO announced that the postseason will begin with that October 14 opener. The wild card round consists of at most two games, both at the fourth place team's home ground.

Doosan, however, had already secured fifth and could prepare for the opener while KIA and LG were still using their leading players to settle the standings. Kwak Bin was expected to start the first wild card game after resting, giving the Bears a planned pitching option against a club coming directly out of the final race.

The wild card round was introduced in 2015. Through the seasons preceding this matchup, the only fifth place team to eliminate the fourth place team was KT, which beat Doosan in 2024. Third place clubs have won the Korean Series three times, with Lotte doing so in 1992 and Doosan in 2001 and 2015. No fourth place club had won it. Those records describe past outcomes, not a limit on what LG can achieve this postseason.

The dates and venues now set

With the standings settled, KIA knows when its postseason begins, although its opponent will depend on the LG-Doosan result. Samsung awaits the semifinal winner in Daegu, while regular season champion KT will enter at the Korean Series stage in Suwon.

The closing stretch and scheduled opening dates are:

• October 3-5: KIA sweeps its three games against LG at Jamsil.
• October 11: KIA loses to Lotte, leaving third place undecided.
• October 12: KIA beats LG 4-2 in Gwangju and clinches third.
• October 14, 6:30 p.m.: LG and Doosan open the wild card series at Jamsil.
• October 17-18, 2 p.m.: KIA hosts the first two semifinal games in Gwangju.
• October 20-21: The wild card winner hosts semifinal games 3 and 4, with game 4 played if needed.
• October 23: KIA hosts semifinal game 5 in Gwangju if needed.
• October 25: Samsung hosts the opening playoff game at Daegu Samsung Lions Park.
• October 26: Samsung hosts playoff game 2.
• October 28-29: The semifinal winner hosts playoff games 3 and 4, with game 4 played if needed.
• October 31: Samsung hosts playoff game 5 if needed.
• November 2, 6:30 p.m.: The Korean Series opens at Suwon KT Wiz Park.
• November 3: KT hosts Korean Series game 2 in Suwon.
• November 5-7: The playoff winner hosts Korean Series games 3 through 5, with game 5 played if needed.
• November 9-10: KT hosts Korean Series games 6 and 7 in Suwon if needed.

The playoff is also best of five. The Korean Series is best of seven, requiring four wins for the championship. KIA has removed one round from its route, but still must win three series to take the title.

The Korean Series uses a 2-3-2 home schedule, with the regular season champion hosting games 1, 2, 6 and 7 and the playoff winner hosting games 3, 4 and 5. At least one travel day is scheduled between series. Games postponed by rain or other circumstances move to the following day, while later games retain their scheduled dates when the postponement does not affect them.

Extra innings are limited to 15, after which an undecided game ends in a draw. Outside the wild card round, drawn games are replayed after the series' scheduled final game at the ground where the draw occurred, without a travel day. If a series has two or more draws, the replay schedule includes one travel day.

Postseason games are not declared no contest or shortened by rain; suspended-game rules apply instead. Only one game is played on the day a suspended game resumes, regardless of the inning in which it was stopped. The originally scheduled game moves to the following day. If the resumption falls on a travel day, play takes place that day and the remaining schedule shifts by one day. If it falls on the series' final scheduled game day, the displaced game is played the following day or on a travel day, with the remaining schedule also shifted by one day.

The wild card matchup also carries a venue milestone. LG and Doosan share Jamsil, and this is scheduled to be their final postseason series there before the stadium is demolished after the season for a replacement dome. The stadium opened in 1982, and the new venue is expected five years later.

A record finish across the league

Elsewhere on the final day, KT beat Samsung 4-2 in Daegu, finishing with 90 wins and a club record 10 consecutive victories. Starting pitcher So Hyeong-jun allowed two hits and one run over six innings, struck out eight and earned his 10th victory against three losses.

That result gave So a winning percentage of .769 and his first title in that category. He also met the eligibility requirements of sufficient innings and at least 10 wins. Lim Chan-kyu, meanwhile, left the KIA game after 3 1/3 innings and two runs without a decision. He finished 15-7, sharing the league lead in victories with KT's Ko Young-pyo.

Lotte beat Doosan 7-4 at Jamsil to move ahead of NC into seventh. Victor Reyes went 4-for-5, including his 18th homer, and finished with 211 hits. That surpassed his own 2024 KBO season record of 202 by nine. KT's Choi Won-jun collected three hits in six at-bats on the final day and finished with 208, the second highest season total.

All three stadiums hosting games that day, Jamsil, Daegu and Gwangju, sold out. Season attendance reached 12,770,551, up from 12,312,519 the year before. The increase was 458,032 spectators, or about 3.7 percent. Samsung drew 1,717,050, becoming the first of the league's 10 clubs to exceed 1.7 million spectators in a season.

Key Points

• KIA beat LG 4-2 on October 12 to secure third place and skip the wild card round.
• Kim Do-young's eighth inning homer was his 45th of the season and 100th of his career.
• Kim won his first home run title and became the 111th KBO player to reach 100 career homers.
• Yang Hyeon-jong allowed one run in five innings; Jeon Sang-hyeon finished with two scoreless innings.
• LG faces Doosan at Jamsil from October 14 and needs one win or draw; Doosan must win twice.
• KIA hosts the first two semifinal games on October 17 and 18 at 2 p.m.; games 3 and 4 are scheduled for October 20 and 21 at the wild card winner's home, with a possible game 5 in Gwangju on October 23.
• The playoff begins October 25, and the Korean Series begins November 2 with a 2-3-2 home schedule.
• KBO season attendance reached a record 12,770,551.