Samsung Lions win Korean Series for first time in 12 years, claim 9th title

The Samsung Lions have dethroned regular-season champion kt Wiz to claim the Korean Series title for the first time in 12 years.

Samsung routed kt 12-1 in Game 5 of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO Postseason Korean Series (best-of-seven) at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Sunday.

After dropping Game 1, the Lions won four consecutive games to take the series 4-1. It is the club's ninth championship overall — including the 1985 split-season title — and their first since 2014.

Samsung had already pulled off one upset by beating the KIA Tigers 3-2 in the playoff round, then toppled regular-season leader kt in the Korean Series. It is the first time a regular-season champion has fallen in the Korean Series since the Doosan Bears in 2018.

Manager Park Jin-man, who collected six Korean Series championship rings as a player, savored his first title as a manager. For kt, which won its first integrated championship in 2021, the bid to reclaim the crown five years later fell short.

Samsung battered kt's pitching staff with 14 hits. Kim Young-ung led the offense, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs, while captain Koo Ja-wook went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.

kt drew first blood in the third inning. Han Seung-taek reached on a hit that deflected off the shortstop and rolled toward left field, and Kwon Dong-jin added a single. With one out and runners on second and third following Choi Won-jun's sacrifice bunt, Jang Jin-hyeok hit a sacrifice fly to center to put kt up 1-0.

Samsung answered immediately in the bottom of the third. With two outs and a runner on first, Koo hit an RBI double down the right-field line to tie the game, and Lewin Diaz followed with an RBI single off the right-field wall to give Samsung the lead. Kim Young-ung then added another RBI single to push the score to 3-1.

The game was in effect decided in the fifth inning. Samsung capitalized on an opponent error and a Koo single, with Choi Hyung-woo, Kim Young-ung and Lee Jae-hyeon hitting consecutive RBI singles to extend the lead to 6-1. With one out and the bases loaded, two runners scored when kt shortstop Kwon mishandled a grounder off Kang Min-ho's bat. Kim Ji-chan then launched a two-run triple, and a wild pitch followed, giving Samsung eight runs in the inning and a commanding 11-1 lead.

Samsung starter Won Tae-in earned the win, pitching five innings and allowing one run on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts. It was his fifth career postseason win and first Korean Series victory. Reliever Chris Fedde took over in the sixth and retired every batter he faced over four perfect innings to earn the save, striking out Jang Sung-woo for the final out of the ninth to seal the championship.

kt starter Davis Daniel took the loss, giving up three runs on five hits over three innings. Reliever Ko Young-pyo fared no better, surrendering eight runs — two earned — in 1⅓ innings as errors compounded his troubles.

Samsung added one more run on a Kim Young-ung RBI single in the eighth to close out the 2026 season with a 12-1 victory.