KBO Semi-Playoff 2026: KIA win Games 1 and 2 in Gwangju 5-1 and 6-3 to lead LG 2-0, with two home runs from 김도영 in Game 1; one more win in Game 3 at Jamsil on October 20 sends KIA to the Playoff

KIA won both of the first two games of the Semi-Playoff: Game 1 5-1 on Saturday, October 17 and Game 2 6-3 on Sunday, October 18. Both were KIA home games at Gwangju Kia Champions Field. KIA lead the series two wins to none.

The game records here come straight from the data behind this site's game pages, as of the end of Game 2 on Sunday. The series score and the next game come from the calculation behind the postseason page, and the dates, start times and parks from the schedule the KBO announced on October 7. This piece covers only the finished games and the arithmetic of the games left, and makes no forecast.

Game 1. LG's 송찬의 put LG ahead with a solo homer off KIA starter James Naile in the top of the second, and KIA's Harold Castro answered with a solo homer off LG starter Anders Tolhurst in the bottom half to make it 1-1. With one out in the bottom of the fourth, 김도영 hit a solo homer to left, which was scored as the game-winning hit. KIA added a run in the sixth, and in the eighth 김도영 hit a two-run homer off 장현식 to make it 5-1. 김도영 went 2 for 3 with two home runs and four RBI. KIA out-hit LG 8-7, and LG made two errors to KIA's one. LG's 박해민 went 3 for 4.

Game 1 pitching. KIA's James Naile won it, allowing one run on four hits in seven innings with six strikeouts, on 92 pitches. 성영탁 got two outs for a hold, and 전상현 pitched an inning and a third for the save. LG's Anders Tolhurst took the loss, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits, two of them home runs, in five innings, on 82 pitches.

Game 2. It was decided in the bottom of the first, when KIA scored five. Castro's single to right with one out and men on first and second was scored as the game-winning hit, and 나성범, 한준수 and 김선빈 all doubled in the inning. LG starter Chan Kyu Im faced eight batters, allowed six hits and five runs, and left after one out, taking the loss on 28 pitches. LG got a run back in each of the third and fifth, KIA added one in the seventh, and LG scored once more in the eighth for a 6-3 final. 나성범 and 김선빈 drove in two each for KIA, and Castro and 한준수 one each. LG out-hit KIA 9-8. 박해민 went 3 for 4 again and is 6 for 8 in the series.

Game 2 pitching. KIA's Adam Oller won it, allowing two runs on six hits in six innings with eight strikeouts, on 94 pitches. 성영탁 pitched a scoreless inning for his second hold in two games, and 전상현 struck out three in an inning and a third for his second save in two games. After Im, six LG pitchers (Jon Kennedy, 이우찬, 우강훈, 손주영, 김강률 and 김진수) allowed one run in seven and two-thirds innings. KIA's pitchers struck out 11.

Across the two games each side has 16 hits, but KIA have scored 11 runs to LG's four. KIA have hit three home runs (two by 김도영, one by Castro) to LG's one (송찬의). KIA starters Naile and Oller have allowed three runs in 13 innings, and LG starters Tolhurst and Im eight runs (seven earned) in five and a third.

The arithmetic of the games left. The Semi-Playoff is a best of five. KIA, on two wins, need one more; LG, on none, have to win all three remaining games (Games 3, 4 and 5). If KIA win Game 3 on Tuesday, October 20, the series ends that day and Games 4 and 5 are not played. If LG win Game 3, Game 4 is played on Wednesday, October 21, and if LG win that too the series is level at 2-2 and Game 5 on Friday, October 23 decides it. So the series ends by October 23 at the latest. Postseason games run to a maximum of 15 innings and are drawn if still level, and a draw does not count as a win.

The schedule left. Game 3 on Tuesday, October 20 and Game 4 on Wednesday, October 21 are LG home games at Jamsil Baseball Stadium at 18:30. Game 5 on Friday, October 23 is a KIA home game at Gwangju Kia Champions Field at 18:30. Games 4 and 5 are played only if needed. The schedule feed lists the Korean broadcasters as MBC for Game 3, KBS2 for Game 4 and SBS for Game 5. The Game 3 starters have not been announced. Games rained out move to the next day, so later dates can change.

What comes next. The Semi-Playoff winner meets second-place Samsung in the best-of-five Playoff, which starts at Daegu Samsung Lions Park at 14:00 on Sunday, October 25. Games 1 and 2 are in Daegu, Games 3 and 4 (October 28 and 29) at the Semi-Playoff winner's park, and Game 5 (October 31) back in Daegu. If KIA finish the series in Game 3, they get four days off before Game 1 of the Playoff. First-place KT waits in the Korean Series, which starts in Suwon on November 2.

How to read these numbers. The Semi-Playoff and Playoff go to the first club to three wins, and the Korean Series to the first to four. The home pattern is 2-2-1, so Games 1, 2 and 5 are at the higher-placed club, KIA. The postseason page shows the bracket and each series' score, the series page each game's result and the schedule, the game pages the line score and player records, and the fixtures the games left. The Wild Card round is in our previous piece. Each club's record is on its team page: KIA, LG, Samsung.