Kim and Naile Carry Tigers in Opener
The Kia Tigers began their South Korean baseball postseason series at home on Saturday with a 5-1 victory over the LG Twins, built on a pair of home runs from Kim Do-yeong and a dominant start by James Naile. Kim finished with four runs batted in, while Naile limited the Twins to a single run across seven innings, scattering four hits. The game drew a full house at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field, roughly 270 kilometers south of Seoul.[S1][S2][S3]
The Twins had pulled level at 1-1 before Kim broke the deadlock with a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth. He added a sacrifice fly in the sixth that brought home another run, then sealed the result with a two-run homer in the eighth. Naile's seven-inning effort kept the visitors quiet through the middle of the game in front of the sellout crowd.[S1]
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Short Series Raises Stakes of Game 1
The teams meet again at 2 p.m. Sunday at the same Gwangju stadium for Game 2 of the best-of-five first round. History favors the Tigers: across the last ten editions of this round, the side that took the opener advanced nine times. That record gives the hosts an early edge, though the Twins still have time to respond in the remaining games.[S1]
