LG Wins Final Jamsil Rival Match... KT's Choi Won-jun Sets New Single-Season Hits Record

Professional baseball team LG Twins wrapped up their final regular-season games at Jamsil Baseball Stadium with a victory.

The fourth-place LG defeated the Doosan Bears 7-5 in their regular-season home match of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul today (October 7).

As the KIA Tigers routed the Lotte Giants to defend their third-place position, Doosan's regular-season ranking was confirmed at fifth, sending them to the postseason starting from the wild-card game.

The battle for third and fourth place is not yet over.

Today's game held extra significance as it was LG's final regular-season match at Jamsil Baseball Stadium.

Jamsil Baseball Stadium will vanish into history after this season, with a new domed stadium to be built in its place.

This season's final regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium will be the match between Doosan and the Lotte Giants on October 12.

The players of the two teams, who have lived as "two families under one roof," commemorated their final matchup at Jamsil by taking a group photo on the field before the game.

Im Chan-kyu struggled with 5 innings, 6 hits allowed, 4 strikeouts, and 5 runs allowed, but with the help of his team's batting lineup, he earned his 15th win (7 losses) of the season and rose to sole possession of first place in most wins.

Choi Min-seok, who had been competing with Im Chan-kyu for the title of most wins, became the losing pitcher after allowing 7 runs on 10 hits, 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts over 4 and two-thirds innings. Marked at 14 wins and 5 losses, he fell behind in the race for the most-wins title.

He will have a chance at a co-title for most wins only if he takes the mound and wins his final game against Lotte on October 12.

KT Wiz's contact hitter Choi Won-jun appeared as the leadoff designated hitter in the match against the Samsung Lions held in Suwon, pounding out 3 hits to increase his season total to 204 hits and setting a new all-time single-season hits record.

Marking his 202nd hit with a double to right-center field in the 5th inning, Choi Won-jun tied the previous record set by Victor Reyes (Lotte) in 2024. He then became the owner of the new record in the 7th inning with his 203rd hit, a soft single dropping in front of the left fielder with no outs and a runner on first.

Choi Won-jun notched his 204th hit with an RBI single to left-center with one out and runners on second and third in the 8th inning.

Combined with Choi Won-jun's blazing bat and Sam Hilliard's grand slam in the 8th inning, KT thoroughly routed Samsung 9-3, extending their winning streak to 8 games even after already securing a direct ticket to the Korean Series.

Hilliard hit his 42nd home run, closely chasing category leader Kim Do-young (KIA, 43 home runs).

He also tied the record for the most grand slams in a single season by hitting his 4th grand slam of this year alone.

Hilliard increased his RBIs to 134, maintaining sole possession of first place in that category.

KIA pulled away from Lotte 12-4 by scoring a massive 7 runs in the top of the 8th inning while leading 5-4.

Kim Do-young broke the game open with a bases-clearing double hugging the third-base line with one out and the bases loaded.

Following that, capitalizing on 1 walk and 5 hits, KIA added 4 more runs.

Lotte's Reyes added 2 hits with an infield single to third base in the 5th inning and a single to right field in the 9th, closely chasing Choi Won-jun with 203 hits.

Although he handed the glory of the new record to Choi Won-jun, Reyes is in an advantageous position to further increase his hit count as he is scheduled to play two more games than Choi.

KIA's Yang Hyeon-jong, who allowed 3 runs over 5 innings, finished the regular league with his 12th win of the season and 198th career win.

The Kiwoom Heroes defeated the Hanwha Eagles 5-3 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul by hammering 4 home runs.

Matt Davidson, Park Chan-hyuk, Kim Jae-hyun (1 run each), and Keston Hiura (2 runs) combined for 5 runs purely through long balls.

Winning their final game, Kiwoom finished the 2026 season with a record of 50 wins, 4 draws, and 90 losses, becoming the first among the 10 teams to wrap up their season.

In Incheon, the SSG Landers defeated the NC Dinos 6-3.

SSG scored 4 runs, highlighted by Jeon Eui-san's 3-run home run in the 3rd inning, and added 2 more runs through Choi Ji-hoon's RBI single.

Although NC pursued with 3 runs in the 8th inning—including Kim Hyung-jun's 2-run home run—it had no bearing on the outcome.

If NC wins just one more game, they will secure 6th place and enjoy the fortune of hosting next season's opening game at home.

Since the top 5 teams in this season's standings include LG and Doosan—who co-share Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul as their home—the 6th-place team enjoys the fortune of obtaining the rights to host next year's home opener.

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