The Samsung Lions and Kia Tigers will face off in a best-of-five series for a spot in the Korean baseball championship. The series starts at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, with additional games in Gwangju.
Kia Tigers players celebrate their 13-1 victory over the LG Twins to win the first round in the KBO postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Oct. 20.YONHAP
Two clubs with a long history of heated rivalry will battle for a spot in the Korean baseball championship series starting this weekend.
The Samsung Lions and the Kia Tigers will square off in the best-of-five second round in the KBO postseason. The opening game is at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The second game will also be in Daegu at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
The series will then shift to the Tigers’ home in Gwangju, with Game 3 at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. If necessary, Game 4 will be in Gwangju at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Should the teams need a Game 5 to decide the winner, the final game will be in Daegu at 2 p.m. on Oct. 31.
The winner of this showdown will advance to the Korean Series, where the KT Wiz, the regular-season champions, are waiting.
The Lions, by finishing in second place in the regular season, earned a bye to this series. The Tigers, who finished third, swept the 2025 Korean Series champions LG Twins in the previous round to get there.
The Lions and the Tigers have met in five previous postseason series, most recently in the 2024 Korean Series, when the Tigers knocked off the Lions in five games. The Tigers won the season series this year by winning nine of their 16 meetings, including four wins in seven visits to Daegu.
While both teams boast strong starting pitching, the offense will likely define this series.
Samsung Lions players pose for photos after playing their final game of the 2026 KBO regular season at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Oct. 12.SAMSUNG LIONS
Only five players hit 30 or more home runs in the regular season, and two of them play for the Tigers: Kim Do-yeong, who led everyone with 45 homers, and Na Sung-bum, who smacked 31 homers. The Lions were the only team this year to have three 100-RBI men: Lewin Díaz with 129, Choi Hyoung-woo with 106 and Koo Ja-wook with 102.
Both clubs have pesky, contact-first hitters atop their lineups: Kim Ji-chan and Kim Seong-yoon for the Lions, and Park Jung-woo and Park Jae-hyun for the Tigers. They will try to set the table for their clubs and let the mashers behind them do damage.
One of those sluggers, Kim Do-yeong, dominated the series against the Twins. He had three hits in three games, but all three of them were home runs, including a grand slam in the clinching Game 3. He homered nine times off the Lions in the regular season, tied for the most against any opponent, and four of those dingers came at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, considered a hitter-friendly stadium thanks to its short dimensions.
Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers celebrates after hitting a grand slam against the LG Twins during Game 3 of the first round in the KBO postseason at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Oct. 20.YONHAP
Choi Hyoung-woo of the Samsung Lions takes a swing against the KT Wiz during the clubs' KBO regular-season game at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on Oct. 7.SAMSUNG LIONS
For the Lions, Koo, the regular-season batting champion with a .374 mark, hit .340 with five doubles in 15 games against the Tigers. The Lions pitchers will face the “rest vs. rust” question. Their last regular-season game was Oct. 12. The Tigers pitchers, on the other hand, will go into this series on the heels of a four-day break, with three starters, James Naile, Adam Oller and Keisho Shirakawa, each throwing at least five innings and with nine relievers having taken the mound.
The Lions’ rotation will be led by Ariel Jurado, Chris Paddack and Won Tae-in. Though no Lions starter reached double figures in wins in the regular season, both Jurado and Won are proven workhorses, and Paddack, who joined the Lions in July, brings some big league pedigree.
