Slugger lives up to superstar billing with 2 homers in KBO postseason victory

GWANGJU — Entering his team's postseason series against the LG Twins, Kia Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong was hyped up as the key player to watch — by managers of both clubs.

Twins skipper Youm Kyoung-youb said the key for his team would be to keep Kim in check and prevent him from inflicting damage. Tigers boss Lee Bum-ho said he was not worried about Kim because he trusted the 23-year-old star to what he was supposed to do.

And Kim, the 2024 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular-season MVP who could win that award again this year, delivered on his promise Saturday by hitting two home runs and driving in four runs in his team's 5-1 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-five first round at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju.

With the score knotted at 1-1, Kim announced his arrival in the series with a towering solo homer in the bottom fourth. Starter Anders Tolhurst threw him a first-pitch fastball that ended up near the heart of the plate, and Kim did not miss. His violent swing sent the ball 124 meters into the left-field stands, while also providing a jolt to a sleepy game on an unseasonably warm October afternoon.

Kim almost had his second home run of the day in the sixth inning. With two runners on and against new pitcher Woo Kang-hoon, Kim drove a deep fly toward the right-center field fence. It died on the warning track, plenty deep enough for a sacrifice fly that pushed the Tigers' lead to 3-1.

That second home run did come in the eighth inning, when Kim tagged reliever Jang Hyun-sik for a two-run bomb to straightaway center field that pushed the Tigers' lead to 5-1.

This is Kim's second career postseason appearance. He homered once and drove in five runs during the Tigers' run to the Korean Series title in 2024. Last year was a lost one for both Kim and the team — with the player missing 114 games due to three separate hamstring injuries and the Tigers missing the postseason in their title defense.

Back at full health this year, Kim led the KBO with 45 home runs and a .647 slugging percentage. And he wasted little time making a mark on the postseason.

Whatever the Twins tried to do to keep Kim off the board did not work on Saturday.

Counting regular-season games, Kim has now homered six times in his past eight contests. He said the secret has been keeping his approach simple.

"My mind is not cluttered at all when I am standing in the box," Kim said. "And now that we are in the postseason, my focus is sharper, too."

As for how the Twins were pitching him in this game, Kim said he did get the impression that they were trying to be careful.

"But I think Tolhurst was still a bit aggressive, and I tried to match that," Kim added, referring to his first-pitch home run against the American pitcher in the fourth inning.

Kim has now gone deep in three straight games against the Twins, dating to the final days of the regular season.

"I was not aware of that streak," Kim said. "I just tried to trust myself and trust the work I have had all along. All I want to do is to drive in runs in key spots. It doesn't matter how well or poorly I have played against LG in the past."