Gwangju:The Kia Tigers clinched the third seed in the South Korean baseball postseason following a victory against the LG Twins in their regular-season finale.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Tigers secured their spot with a 4-2 win at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field, powered by Kim Do-yeong's decisive two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. This victory finalized their season with a record of 79-63-2, placing them 1 1/2 games ahead of the Twins, who finished 78-65-1.
The third-place finish grants the Tigers a direct entry into the best-of-five first round of the postseason. Meanwhile, the Twins will face the Doosan Bears in the wild card round. As the higher seed, the Twins need only a tie or a win in two tries to advance, while the Bears must win both games.
This postseason marks the last series between the rivals at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, which will be demolished to make way for a dome. The wild card format, introduced in 2015, has seen a fifth-seeded team upset a fourth seed only once.
During Monday's game, Park Jae-hyun hit a solo home run for the Tigers in the first inning, answered by Park Dong-won for the Twins in the second. Kim Sun-bin's bunt single in the fourth gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead, but Moon Jeong-bin tied it with a solo shot for the Twins in the sixth. Kim Do-yeong's home run in the eighth inning was his 45th of the season and his 100th career homer, bolstering his MVP candidacy for this year.