Kim Do-yeong hits two homers as Kia wins postseason opener

Kim Do-yeong hit two home runs and drove in four runs as the Kia Tigers beat the LG Twins 5-1 on Saturday in the opener of their KBO postseason first-round series, according to The Korea Times.

The victory puts Kia ahead in the best-of-five series, with Kim carrying his league-leading regular-season power into the postseason. His performance follows a year in which hamstring injuries cost him 114 games and the Tigers missed the playoffs.

Kim, 23, broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field. He drove a pitch from LG starter Anders Tolhurst 124 meters into the left-field stands, The Korea Times reported.

He added a sacrifice fly against Woo Kang-hoon in the sixth inning, then hit a two-run homer off Jang Hyun-sik in the eighth to complete his four-RBI performance.

Both Kia manager Lee Bum-ho and LG manager Youm Kyoung-youb had identified Kim as a key player before the series, according to the newspaper. Kim said his focus had sharpened for the postseason and that he tried to match Tolhurst’s aggressive approach in their fourth-inning matchup.

Kim won the KBO regular-season MVP award in 2024 and helped Kia win the Korean Series that year. Three separate hamstring injuries interrupted his following season, but he returned to full health this year and led the league with 45 home runs and a .647 slugging percentage.

Including regular-season play, Kim has hit six home runs in his past eight games. He also has homered in three consecutive games against LG, a streak he told the newspaper he had not been aware of.

Kim said his priority was producing runs in key situations, not dwelling on previous results against LG, according to The Korea Times.