“Jamsil’s final fireworks were launched by Kim Do-young”: 145-meter monster grand slam... KIA routs LG 13-1 to advance straight to the Playoffs

[Financial News] The Tiger brigade’s merciless display of firepower spectacularly brought down the curtain on the 44-year history of Jamsil Baseball Stadium. The bat of “superstar” Kim Do-young showed no mercy.
The KIA Tigers routed the LG Twins 13-1 in Game 3 of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League Postseason Semi-Playoffs (best-of-five) at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 20th, unleashing a fearsome offense that piled up 16 hits. With the win, KIA swept the series 3-0 to secure a place in the Playoffs and head to Daegu, where regular-season runners-up the Samsung Lions await.
The scales tipped decisively with a single offensive burst in the top of the second. Leadoff hitter Na Sung-bum opened the scoring with a solo shot to center off LG starter Carlos Carrasco. The rattled LG pitching staff crumbled amid a succession of errors, walks and timely hits, and consecutive RBI singles by Park Jeong-woo and Park Jae-hyeon quickly stretched the score to 3-0.



Then came a chance with one out and the bases loaded. John Kennedy, who had come in as a reliever, was on the mound, but he could not contain Kim Do-young’s momentum as he stepped up to the plate. With a 1-1 count, Kim lashed an inside fastball clocked at 144.4 km/h, sending a towering grand slam into the very top of the left-center-field stands at Jamsil Baseball Stadium.
That one swing produced a slew of records. Clocked at 179.3 km/h off the bat and traveling 145 meters (145.8 meters according to TrackMan), the homer set a new Semi-Playoffs distance record since the KBO began measuring home-run distances in 2000. Across the postseason as a whole, it tied the all-time longest at 145 meters, matching the distance hit by Tyrone Woods of Doosan in 2001. Kim also broke the record as the youngest player ever to hit a postseason grand slam, at 23 years and 18 days, surpassing Kim Dong-joo, who was 25 years and 8 months old in 2001. With three homers and eight RBIs in three games, Kim swept 84 of the 97 votes cast by the press corps (86.6%) to be named series MVP.



The KIA offense kept up its merciless onslaught. Na Sung-bum hit solo homers in consecutive at-bats, and Han Jun-su added another homer in the seventh. With 16 hits, KIA achieved the rare feat of every starting batter recording both a hit and a run—the second such feat in the Semi-Playoffs and only the fourth time in postseason history.
On the mound, the bold “Shirakawa option” paid off perfectly. Shirakawa Keisho, entrusted with starting Game 3 in place of Yang Hyeon-jong, delivered a brilliant five-inning performance, allowing four hits and one run while striking out nine and issuing no walks or hit-by-pitches, earning Daily MVP honors. He also made history as the first Asian-quota pitcher in the KBO League to earn a postseason win.



Meanwhile, the “defending champions” LG, pushed to the brink, suffered a third straight loss as starter Carrasco collapsed, giving up five runs in 1⅓ innings. It was a stinging 10th consecutive loss to KIA, a streak that began in the regular season. The “last professional baseball game” at historic Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which has a 44-year history and is set to be demolished after this season, ended with KIA’s celebratory fireworks and LG’s profound disappointment.
After sweeping the Semi-Playoffs with three straight wins, KIA will begin its pivotal Game 1 of the Playoffs against the Samsung Lions at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the 25th, with a place in the Korean Series on the line.

[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter