Samsung vs. KIA: Playoff series set for a decider tomorrow

[Financial News] The 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League playoff (PO, best-of-five) is set to go to a decisive Game 5 tomorrow. This follows the Kia Tigers' 4-2 win over the Samsung Lions in Game 4 of the playoffs at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Jeonnam-Gwangju on the 30th. The teams are tied 2-2 in the playoff series. Game 5 will be played on November 1 at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. The winner will face KT Wiz in the Korean Series.
In the 13 playoff Game 5s played since 1989, when the league switched to its current single-league format, the regular-season runner-up had a better record than the team that won the semi-playoffs, with 8 wins and 5 losses (a 61.5% winning percentage). Of the 15 playoff Game 5s played in the past, however, there were nine instances in which the teams split the first two games, 1-1. In seven of those nine cases (77.8%), a team that lost Game 3 and fell behind 1-2, then kept its hopes alive by winning Game 4, went on to win Game 5 as well. The pattern seen this year—a team coming through the semi-playoffs winning Game 1, losing Games 2 and 3 to fall behind 1-2, then taking Game 4—had occurred three times before: with the 1992 Lotte Giants, the 2002 LG Twins and the 2015 Doosan Bears.
Samsung, which advanced through the semi-playoffs after finishing fourth last year, won Games 2 and 4 against the second-place Hanwha Eagles to take the series to Game 5, but lost the deciding game.

[email protected] Kang Gu-gwi Reporter