Harold Castro Powers KIA Past Samsung in KBO Playoff Opener

Harold Castro drove in three runs and the KIA Tigers’ bullpen covered 4⅔ scoreless innings after starter James Naile was ejected, carrying KIA to a 5-1 win over the Samsung Lions in Game 1 of the KBO playoff series on Monday, October 26, at Daegu Samsung Lions Park.

The road victory gave KIA a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series and extended its postseason winning streak to four games. Teams winning Game 1 have advanced to the Korean Series in 27 of the previous 35 best-of-five KBO playoffs, a 77.1% rate.

Castro turns two-out rallies into a four-run lead

KIA did all of its damage against Samsung starter Chris Paddack, beginning with a two-out rally in the first inning. Kim Do-yeong worked a walk and stole second before Castro singled him home. Na Sung-bum followed with an RBI double for a 2-0 lead.

The same pairing struck again in the third. Kim singled with two outs, and Castro lifted a full-count cutter over the right-field wall for a two-run home run. Castro finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Kim reached base three times, collected two hits and stole a base.

Han Jun-su made it 5-0 in the fourth with a solo homer to right. Paddack was charged with five runs on five hits and two walks in 4⅔ innings, striking out four. Samsung managed only two hits in the game.

KIA bullpen answers after Naile’s ejection

Naile had allowed only one hit through 4⅓ innings before a 146 kph two-seam fastball struck Park Seung-gyu in the head in the fifth. Under KBO rules, Naile was ejected immediately.

Samsung scored its only run later in the inning when Kim Young-woong delivered an RBI single, but KIA’s bullpen stopped the comeback there. Jung Hae-young finished the fifth, Lee Eui-lee recorded four outs, and Cho Sang-woo, Kwak Do-gyu and Jeon Sang-hyun combined to close out the final innings without allowing another run.

KIA also protected the lead with two important plays by left fielder Park Jae-hyun in the seventh. He caught Park Seung-gyu’s deep drive at the wall and then made a diving catch on Kang Min-ho’s line drive to end the inning.

The result was another controlled postseason performance from a KIA club that swept the LG Twins in three games in the semifinal playoff round. Samsung, idle since the end of the regular season, now must recover quickly after its lineup produced just two hits in front of a sellout crowd of 23,550.

What comes next

Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday, October 27, at 6:30 p.m. KST at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. The series then shifts to Gwangju for Game 3 on Thursday.