Samsung Routs KIA with 8-Run 1st Inning; Doosan Jumps to 4th on Park Jun-soon's Game-Winning Homer

The top three teams in the professional baseball league secured simultaneous victories, while the Doosan Bears pushed the KIA Tigers down to fifth place to move up one spot to fourth.

The league-leading Samsung Lions overwhelmingly defeated the KIA Tigers 12-5 in their home game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 28th.

Samsung effectively decided the match early by battering KIA ace Adam Oller for 8 runs in the first inning alone.

With one out and runners on first and third, Choi Hyung-woo hit an RBI double down the right field line, followed by consecutive hits from Lewin Díaz to bring in 2 runs. Lee Jae-hyun then extended the lead to 5-0 with a 3-run home run over the left field wall.

Samsung added 3 more runs later in the inning with 2-RBI timely hits from Kim Ji-chan and Koo Ja-wook, who batted around.

Oller was forced to trudge off the mound after facing 13 batters in the first inning alone, allowing 7 hits and 3 walks while giving up 8 runs.

Trailing 9-0, KIA clawed back 3 runs in the fourth inning sparked by Harold Castro's 2-run homer, and added 2 more in the fifth combining Ha Joo-suk's right-center double and Castro's groundout to narrow the gap to 9-5.

However, after Han Jun-su was retired on a catcher's foul popup with two outs and the bases loaded, KIA conceded 2 runs to Samsung in the bottom of the fifth and effectively waved the white flag.

Leadoff hitter Kim Ji-chan recorded 4 hits, 3 runs, and 2 RBIs, while the trio of middle-of-the-order hitters Koo Ja-wook, Choi Hyung-woo, and Díaz combined for 8 hits and 5 RBIs, overpowering KIA in offensive firepower.

In Incheon, the Doosan Bears edged out the SSG Landers 2-1 in 10 innings.

Doosan's young slugger Park Jun-soon, who had gone hitless with 2 strikeouts in his first four plate appearances, stepped up as the leadoff batter in the 10th inning with the score tied 1-1 and launched a game-winning solo shot over the left field wall off SSG relief pitcher Moon Seung-won.

It was a breakthrough blow that relieved Doosan's frustration after collecting 9 hits and 5 walks through nine innings but stranding 10 runners while being restricted to just 1 run due to two double plays.

SSG managed to advance a runner to third base in the bottom of the 10th inning, but they failed to break through the wall of Doosan closer Lee Young-ha.

Doosan starting pitcher Wes Benjamin pitched brilliantly with 8 strikeouts and 1 run allowed over 6 innings, while SSG starter Pedro Ávila also pitched a scoreless 6 innings.

In Daejeon, the Lotte Giants unleashed 20 hits to defeat the Hanhae Eagles 9-3, snapping a 3-game losing streak against Hanwha.

In the top of the second inning, Na Seung-yeop and Noh Jin-hyuk attacked Hanwha ace Owen White with back-to-back doubles to score the game's opening run.

With one out and the bases loaded following that, Sohn Sung-bin hit a 2-RBI single up the middle, and Hwang Seong-bin followed with a single to right-center, widening the gap to 4-0.

Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung made a bold move in the third inning with his team leading 4-2 and two outs and the bases loaded, replacing struggling starter Park Se-woong with Lee Min-seok, laying the foundation to maintain a 4-3 lead through the fifth.

Lotte table-setters Hwang Seong-bin and Ko Seung-min then co-anchored the victory with crucial timely hits.

Hwang hit an RBI triple down the right field line in the sixth to extend the lead to 5-3 and later scored on a groundout by the next batter.

Ko Seung-min sealed the win in the seventh with a 2-RBI single up the middle with two outs and the bases loaded, making it 6-3.

The third-place LG Twins suppressed the Kiwoom Heroes 5-3 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, spearheaded by strong hitting from rookie slugger Moon Jung-bin.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth with one out and a runner on first, Park Dong-won delivered a 2-RBI single capitalizing on an error by Kiwoom second baseman Seo Geon-chang, who fumbled Oh Ji-hwan's grounder, turning the game around to 2-1.

In the bottom of the fifth, Moon Jung-bin pushed a middle-in fastball from Kiwoom starting pitcher Jeon Jun-pyo for a massive solo homer to right-center with an exit velocity of 170.2 km/h and a distance of 127.9 meters, marking his first career double-digit home run season.

Moon struck again in the bottom of the seventh with the score tied 3-3, hitting an RBI single to right field with one out and runners on first and second to put LG ahead 4-3.

Kiwoom repeatedly squandered scoring opportunities in the top of the eighth with one out and the bases loaded, and in the ninth with two outs and runners on second and third.

LG closer Son Joo-young reached the milestone of 20 saves for the season.

The second-place KT wiz completely routed the NC Dinos 10-0 in their away game in Changwon.

KT starting pitcher Ko Young-pyo claimed his 8th win (6 losses) of the season with a phenomenal scoreless pitching performance, racking up 10 strikeouts over 7 innings.

He allowed only 2 hits and 1 walk.

Following a scoreless 6-inning pitching performance against the LG Twins on the 19th, Ko has now earned back-to-back victories without giving up a single run.

KT opened the scoring in the first inning with Sam Hilliard's RBI single up the middle, added a 3-run homer by Kim Hyun-soo in the fifth, and pulled ahead 5-0 with a flurry of 3 hits in the sixth.

Hilliard fully delivered in his role as the cleanup hitter, collecting 3 hits and 3 RBIs, including an RBI single up the middle during a 9th-inning rally that added 5 runs.

(Photo provided by Samsung Lions, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.