Top things to know
- James Naile pitched seven innings, allowing one run on four hits with six strikeouts as the Kia Tigers beat the LG Twins 5-1 in Game 1 of the KBO postseason first round.
- Kim Do-yeong hit two home runs and drove in four runs, including a go-ahead solo shot in the fourth inning and a two-run homer in the eighth.
- Harold Castro hit a game-tying solo home run in the second inning for the Tigers.
- Naile escaped a sixth-inning jam with a strikeout and a double play, preserving the Tigers' lead.
- Game 2 of the best-of-five series is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field.
James Naile held the LG Twins to one run on four hits over seven innings and Kim Do-yeong homered twice and drove in four runs as the Kia Tigers opened their Korea Baseball Organization postseason series with a 5-1 victory at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on Saturday.Naile struck out six batters, five of them with his sweeper, before a sellout crowd of 18,900. The right-hander, who helped the Tigers win the 2024 Korean Series, escaped his biggest jam in the sixth inning by striking out Moon Jeong-bin and inducing a double play from Moon Bo-gyeong. "My strength is ground balls. I always think I can get out of any inning with a double play," Naile said. "I always trust my defense to turn a double play."Kim, the 2024 regular-season MVP who led the KBO with 45 home runs this season, broke a 1-1 tie with a solo homer in the fourth inning and added a two-run shot in the eighth. He also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. "He knows how to hit home runs," Tigers manager Lee Bum-ho said. "I think this victory showed how Kim Do-yeong can singlehandedly change the complexion of a game." Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb said his pitchers "just failed to locate their pitches" and "Kim Do-yeong did not miss on those mistakes."Harold Castro hit a game-tying solo homer in the second inning for the Tigers. Game 2 of the best-of-five series is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at the same stadium.