Jurado’s Strong 1-Run, 7-Inning Performance Leads Samsung to Second Straight Win and Series Turnaround After Initial Loss

The Samsung Lions secured their second consecutive win following an opening loss against the KT Wiz in the professional baseball Korean Series.

In Game 3 of the best-of-seven Korean Series of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Postseason held today (November 6) at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, Samsung defeated KT 5-1, backed by starting pitcher Ariel Jurado's stellar pitching and the batting lineup's clutch concentration.

Having won both Games 2 and 3 after dropping the opener to shift the momentum of the series, Samsung has placed itself in a much more advantageous position to claim the fall baseball championship.

Historically in the Korean Series, teams that won Game 3 after a 1-1 tie in the early stage went on to capture the title 16 out of 18 times, recording an 88.9% championship probability.

Samsung is a traditional powerhouse that has reached the top 8 times in its history, but has not won a Korean Series title since 2014.

In Game 3, which featured a starting pitching duel between Jurado and So Hyung-jun, Samsung seized control of the game early by capitalizing on command issues from the KT starting pitcher.

KT opened the scoring in the top of the 1st inning when leadoff hitter Kim Min-hyuk hit a double down the right-field line, and after two outs, Sam Hilliard hit a center-field double to drive in the game's first run.

Samsung immediately tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the 1st with runners on first and second with one out, when Choi Hyung-woo hit an RBI single to left field.

In the bottom of the 2nd, while KT starter So Hyung-jun struggled with control by issuing three walks to load the bases with one out, Samsung added a run on Kim Sung-yoon's grounder to the infield to take a 2-1 lead.

During the ensuing attack, Koo Ja-wook drove in two runners with a triple that flew to the top of the right-field fence, extending the lead to 4-1.

After a lull in the action, Samsung sealed the victory with a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th.

Batting with one out, Park Seung-gyu hit a solo homer over the left-field fence off KT's third pitcher, Kim Jung-woon, to put the game out of reach.

Samsung starting pitcher Jurado delivered a spirited performance, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits with 6 strikeouts over 7 innings using 108 pitches.

Jurado, who was named the Playoff MVP, continued his phenomenal postseason run, allowing only 3 runs over 20.2 innings across 3 games with a 3-0 record and a 1.31 ERA.

 
KT's So Hyung-jun recorded 6 strikeouts through 6 innings but suffered the loss after giving up 4 runs on 3 hits and 5 walks.

So's troubles stemmed from issuing 5 walks in the 1st and 2nd innings alone.

Although KT led 7-4 in hits, they failed to effectively untangle their offensive opportunities.

Despite the team's defeat, KT's Kim Hyun-soo appeared in his 109th career postseason game, tying Hong Sung-heon (then with the Doosan Bears) for the most postseason appearances.

All 23,550 tickets at Samsung Lions Park were sold out today, bringing the cumulative postseason attendance to 252,500.

Fall baseball has maintained a streak of sellouts for 49 consecutive games starting from Game 1 of the 2023 Korean Series, and specifically in the Korean Series, it marks 244 consecutive sellout games beginning with Game 1 of 2022.

Game 4 of the Korean Series between Samsung and KT will take place tomorrow (November 7) at 2 PM at the same venue.

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