Matt Tallarini·Nov 1, 2026·7 MIN READ
The Samsung Lions host the KIA Tigers in a winner-take-all Game 5 of the KBO Playoff at 1 a.m. ET Sunday (2 p.m. KST) at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. The best-of-five series is tied 2-2 after KIA’s 4-2 comeback win in Game 4 on Friday.
The winner travels to Suwon to open the Korean Series against regular-season champion KT Wiz on Tuesday. The series was pushed back a day once KIA forced a fifth game.
How to Watch Samsung vs. KIA Game 5
In the United States and everywhere else outside South Korea, the game streams free on SOOP — kbo.sooplive.com and the SOOP app — the KBO’s international streaming partner. You don’t need a subscription. The broadcast is in Korean, but the site and app are in English. Replays are typically posted after the game. No U.S. TV network is carrying it. Inside South Korea, TVING has the KBO’s digital rights.
First pitch: 1:00 a.m. ET / 12:00 a.m. CT Sunday; 11:00 p.m. MT / 10:00 p.m. PT Saturday. (WATCH HERE)
Live box score: Follow along at our KIA-Samsung Game 5 scoreboard.
Note: Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, so U.S. clocks fall back an hour mid-game. First pitch is 1:00 a.m. EDT.
Lineups
KIA: Jae-hyun Park LF, Do-yeong Kim 3B, Harold Castro 1B, Sung-bum Na RF, Sun-bin Kim 2B, Jun-su Han DH, Ju-seok Ha SS, Tae-gun Kim C, Jung-woo Park CF. Adam Oller RHP.
Samsung: Ji-chan Kim CF, Seung-gyu Park RF, Ja-wook Koo DH, Lewin Diaz 1B, Hyoung-woo Choi LF, Young-woong Kim 3B, Ji-hyuk Ryu 2B, Min-ho Kang C, Jae-hyeon Lee SS. Ariel Jurado RHP.
KIA is running back the lineup that won Game 4. Manager Lee Beom-ho told reporters before the game that he kept Do-yeong Kim in the two-hole because the order worked Friday, and because Daegu’s dimensions reward loading power hitters near the top.
Samsung kept Young-woong Kim at third base despite his error in Game 4; manager Park Jin-man said he never considered taking him out. Veteran catcher Min-ho Kang is starting despite some physical discomfort.
https://twitter.com/KBO_ENG/status/2116740949720309980/photo/1
Every Pitcher Is Available, and KIA Means It
Lee said his entire staff is on standby. The notable name is Keisho Shirakawa, the Japanese right-hander who started Game 3 and had been lined up to start Sunday. Instead he’s in the bullpen and will throw at least an inning if the situation calls for it.
Veteran lefty Hyeon-jong Yang is also available, but conditionally. Lee said Yang has limited experience working in the middle innings, so if Oller gets through five, he’d rather go to relievers like Do-gyu Kwak or Ui-ri Lee. Dong-ha Hwang was left off because KIA doesn’t need a long outing from him.
Closer Sang-hyun Jeon could appear as early as the eighth and work multiple innings, with someone else finishing the ninth. Lee’s reasoning was that Samsung’s late-inning offense doesn’t leave room to wait.
On facing Jurado, Lee said KIA’s advance work focused on the high fastball that beat them in Game 2 — a pitch he called genuinely difficult, with the best counter being to attack mistakes down. He noted even Castro, one of KIA’s better bats, struggled with it.
Lee packed for five days and has ruled out the alternative: “I’ve erased Gwangju from my mind.” Win and the team flies to Suwon. Lose and it’s home.
Samsung is expected to be equally aggressive. The Lions lost 35-save closer Jae-yun Kim to injury, which is why ace Tae-in Won is finishing games. Won closed Game 2 by retiring the side in order, and Samsung says its whole bullpen is available.
Three Pending Free Agents, One Elimination Game
The most-watched names in this game may be the ones about to hit the open market. KIA’s Ho-ryeong Kim and Samsung’s Tae-in Won and Ja-wook Koo all reach free agency when the season ends, and Korean outlets flagged this series as their last audition before the winter.
Ho-ryeong Kim, CF, KIA. He is not in the starting lineup, the second straight game KIA’s regular center fielder has been held out, with Jung-woo Park in center instead. Kim turns 35 this offseason and reaches free agency for the first time in a career that began in 2015. KIA raised his 2026 salary from 80 million won to 250 million won — a 212.5% jump, the largest raise on the roster, and one Korean outlets read as the club deliberately moving him into a higher compensation tier before he hits the market. The raise put him level with Do-yeong Kim.
Tae-in Won, RHP, Samsung. Samsung’s ace reaches free agency for the first time after this season. His 2026 salary is 1 billion won, which means a club signing him away could owe up to 3 billion won in compensation. Samsung has been pursuing a non-FA extension to keep him.
Ja-wook Koo, DH, Samsung. Koo signed a non-FA multiyear deal four years ago and now reaches the market at 34. His salary is low enough that the compensation cost to a signing club would be modest, which makes him an attractive target.
If Samsung loses, Won and Koo may have played their last game in a Lions uniform. If KIA loses, the same goes for Kim.
Jurado and Oller Meet Again
It’s a rematch of Game 2, which Samsung won 8-3. Jurado earned his first career postseason win that night, allowing two runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings. Oller took the loss after giving up five runs in 4 2/3 innings, including a home run to Lewin Diaz.
Daegu has been rough on Oller: he’s allowed 13 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings across one regular-season start and one postseason start there. He went 11-10 with a 3.13 ERA in 30 games this season, but just 2-1 with a 5.79 ERA in three games against Samsung. Park was blunt about the plan — Samsung has to knock Oller out early and score first.
How the Series Got Here
Game 1, Daegu: KIA 5, Samsung 1. James Naile started; Harold Castro and Jun-su Han homered. The win ended a five-game playoff-round losing streak for KIA dating to 2002.
Game 2, Daegu: Samsung 8, KIA 3. Jurado over Oller.
Game 3, Gwangju: Samsung 6, KIA 4. Shirakawa started for KIA, Won-tae Choi for Samsung.
Game 4, Gwangju: KIA 4, Samsung 2. Samsung led 2-1 in the seventh behind Chris Paddack, who struck out six and allowed one earned run in 5 1/3 innings on three days’ rest. KIA scored three in the bottom half, helped by Samsung’s third error. Castro’s single tied it, and RBI singles by Jun-su Han and Ju-seok Ha put KIA ahead. Jeon retired the last six, and Do-yeong Kim ended it with a diving stop. Full recap here.
Names U.S. and International Fans Will Know
2026 World Baseball Classic players. Korea reached its first WBC quarterfinal in 17 years in March, then ran into the Dominican Republic at loanDepot park in Miami. Austin Wells hit a three-run homer in the seventh that put the D.R. up 10-0 and ended the game on the spot under the tournament’s rout rule. Four players from that tournament are in Sunday’s game.
Do-yeong Kim, 3B, KIA (Korea) is the 2024 KBO MVP.
Ja-wook Koo, DH, Samsung (Korea) is a four-time KBO Gold Glove winner.
Tae-in Won, RHP, Samsung (Korea) is Samsung’s ace, now closing.
Ariel Jurado, RHP, Samsung (Panama) started against host Puerto Rico at Hiram Bithorn Stadium on March 7 and threw five scoreless innings, giving up three hits with no walks and four strikeouts; Panama lost 4-3 in 10 innings on a Darell Hernaiz walk-off homer.
Former MLB Players
Chris Paddack, RHP, Samsung pitched for the Padres, Twins and Tigers, then the Marlins, Reds and Rangers in 2026 before signing with Samsung in July.
Adam Oller, RHP, KIA pitched for the Athletics and Marlins.
James Naile, RHP, KIA pitched for the Cardinals.
Lewin Diaz, 1B, Samsung was a Marlins first baseman.
Harold Castro, 1B, KIA spent six seasons with Detroit and two with Colorado.
Keisho Shirakawa, RHP, KIA is Japanese, one of the few Japanese players in the KBO, and is available out of the bullpen Sunday.
These two teams met in the 2024 Korean Series, which KIA won 4-1.
The Short Version
KIA at Samsung, winner-take-all, Korean Series against KT Wiz starts Tuesday for whoever survives. First pitch 1:00 a.m. ET Sunday, 10:00 p.m. PT Saturday. Free on SOOP at kbo.sooplive.com. Adam Oller for KIA, Ariel Jurado for Samsung. Live box score here.
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