Samsung Lions Tie Series with KIA Tigers at 1

The KIA Tigers and Samsung Lions opened their best-of-five playoff series Monday after rain postponed Game 1 on Sunday. The winner of the series will advance to the Korean Series to face the KT Wiz.

Game 1: Tigers strike early, hold off Lions- The Tigers jumped on Lions starter Chris Paddack in the first inning. After Do-yeong Kim walked and stole second base, first baseman Harold Castro delivered a two-out single to score Kim and give KIA a 1-0 lead. Sung-Bum Na followed with an RBI double to extend the lead to 2-0.

Paddack retired the first two batters in the third before running into trouble again. Kim singled to bring up Castro, who hit a two-run home run to right field to put the Tigers ahead 4-0.

KIA continued to build its lead in the fourth when Jun-su Han led off the inning with a solo home run, making it 5-0. Paddack lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

Tigers starter James Naile retired 12 consecutive batters after allowing a leadoff single in the first. His outing ended earlier than expected when he hit Seung-kyu Park in the helmet with a fastball, forcing KIA to turn to its bullpen in the fifth inning.

The Lions took advantage of the pitching change. With two outs, Young-woong Kim singled to score Park and put Samsung on the board.

The Tigers’ bullpen responded by shutting down the Lions for the remainder of the game. Samsung managed no additional hits over the final 4 1/3 innings as KIA secured a 5-1 victory and took a 1-0 lead in the series.

Game 2: Lions respond to even series- Facing a critical Game 2, the Lions turned to Ariel Jurado, while the Tigers started Adam Oller.

Both pitchers worked through the first two innings without allowing a run. KIA broke through in the third, putting runners on the corners with one out. Ho-yeon Lee hit a line drive to center field, where Ji-chan Kim made an outstanding catch. The play still allowed the go-ahead run to score, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

Samsung answered in the bottom half of the inning. With a runner on second and two outs, Park doubled down the left-field line to tie the game at 1. Ja-wook Koo followed with an RBI single to give the Lions their first lead of the series.

Lewin Díaz capped the rally with a two-run home run, extending Samsung’s advantage to 4-1. After a quiet offensive performance in Game 1, the Lions had come alive in game 2.

Samsung added another run in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk. In the sixth, Ji-chan Kim doubled down the right-field line with runners on first and second and one out, scoring another run. Park followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-1.

The Tigers scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, eventually chasing Jurado after 6 2/3 innings. Jurado allowed two runs on five hits and struck out three in a strong performance, with the Lions facing the possibility of falling behind 2-0 in the series.

Samsung added to its lead in the bottom of the seventh when Hyoung-woo Choi launched a 410-foot home run into the right-field seats, making it 8-2.

Castro drove in his fourth run of the series with a groundout in the eighth, bringing KIA within five runs.

Tae-in Won, one of the Lions’ top pitchers during last year’s postseason, took the mound in the ninth after a difficult 2026 season. He retired the side in order with two strikeouts to secure an 8-3 victory and even the series at one game apiece.

Game 3: Series shifts to Gwangju- The series now moves to Gwangju for Games 3 and 4. The Tigers will have a chance to clinch a berth in the Korean Series with two home victories, while the Lions will look to take control of the matchup.

Samsung will start right-hander Won-tae Choi, who posted a 4.68 ERA with 119 strikeouts in 125 innings during the regular season.

KIA will counter with Keisho Shirakawa, who recorded a 4.75 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 83 1/3 innings. Shirakawa was at his best in his only postseason start against the Twins, pitching five innings and allowing one run while striking out nine.

He became the first Japanese pitcher to earn a postseason victory.