KIA vs Doosan: A Shocking Bat Mishap Leads to Controversial Play in 2026 Baseball Showdown

[SPOTV News=Gwangju, Kim Tae-woo] An odd moment decided the final game of the three-game midweek series between KIA and Doosan at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on the 14th. KIA led 4-2 in the fifth when Kim Do-young stepped to the plate.

After leadoff hitter Kim Seon-bin ripped a double to right-center in the fifth, Kim Do-young swung at an outside changeup from Doosan starter Wes Benjamin with a 1-strike count. He mishit the pitch, and the ball dropped in front of the catcher.

But it wasn't just the ball that landed in front of Doosan catcher Yang Eui-ji. Kim Do-young’s bat, which he tossed after his swing to begin his run to first, also fell into fair territory. The batted ball happened to strike that bat and stopped dead.

Yang had positioned himself to field a ball he expected to roll past him. When the ball struck the bat and stopped abruptly, he lost his timing. He scooped it up and rushed a throw to first, but the speedy Kim Do-young beat the toss. The lead runner, Kim Seon-bin, held at second because Yang had the option to try for third.

Yang and other Doosan players protested, arguing the bat interfered with the play. The home-plate and first-base umpires briefly conferred, then ruled it an infield hit. They explained the call to Doosan manager Kim Won-hyung, and the bench had no recourse.

MLB-style rules state that if a batted or bunted fair ball hits the bat while the bat is in fair territory, the ball is dead and runners cannot advance. But the rules also make an exception: if a fair ball rolls and then hits a bat the batter dropped in fair territory, the ball remains in play and the batter is not out — provided the umpire judges the batter clearly had no intent to interfere with the play.

Kim Do-young had tossed the bat as part of his follow-through and baserunning; there was no intent to interfere. Intentionally throwing a bat to land exactly where a ball would hit it would be difficult. It was a fluke — a string of rare coincidences. Kim got very lucky; for Doosan, it was just an unlucky break.

But Doosan’s problems were bigger than one fluke. The team committed several defensive miscues across the game and dropped a second straight contest. That wasn’t bad luck alone — it was a collective issue. Manager Kim Won-hyung said he was disappointed by the defensive mistakes that carried over from the previous day. He stressed the players weren’t shirking effort, but added that a handful of failed plays to record outs accumulated and ultimately cost the team the game.

Manager Kim has recently taken a hard line on defensive lapses and plays that lack full effort, but early- and mid-game fielding mistakes again sapped his pitchers. Those miscues paved the way for KIA’s 5-3 win and a series victory.

Doosan jumped ahead in the second when Yang Eui-ji hit a two-run homer, but KIA answered with three runs in the same inning to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead. The inning featured a critical defensive breakdown. KIA’s leadoff hitter in the frame, Kim Ho-ryeong, ripped a double to right-center — a play that, with tighter defense, might have been prevented. Yoon Do-hyun laid down a sacrifice bunt, Han Seung-yeon drew a walk with one out and a runner at third, and Kim Tae-gun followed with a run-scoring single to center.

Benjamin handled Park Min with a grounder to third, and later induced Park Jae-hyun to hit a grounder to first with two outs and runners on second and third. The ball came hard but right at first baseman Oh Myung-jin. Had he blocked it with his body, the out would have been routine. Instead, Oh misplayed the ball, allowing both runners to score and flipping the lead. He was replaced in the next inning by Kang Seung-ho — a substitution that looked like a message from the coaching staff.

Still trailing 2-3 in the third, Doosan surrendered another run after Adrullin’s double and a subsequent play in right field where the right fielder, Cameron, failed to make a clean play, allowing Kim Ho-ryeong to advance to third.

Yang’s solo homer in the seventh pulled Doosan within one, but the defense continued to haunt them. In the seventh, KIA leadoff hitter Kim Seon-bin reached on a single to right. After one out, Adrullin singled to center and hustled into scoring position to create runners at second and third. Doosan turned Kim Ho-ryeong into a grounder to second, and second baseman Park Joon-sun calmly fired home and got the runner trying to score, nailing Kim Seon-bin at the plate.

Then Jeong Hyun-chang hit another grounder to second, but Park failed to field it cleanly and was charged with an error. The ball drifted away to the side, and while it wasn’t hit at top speed, it was a play the defender should have made. The margin stretched from one run to two, and Doosan never closed the gap. KIA held on for a 5-3 victory.

KIA starter Hwang Dong-ha allowed seven hits, including two homers, over six innings but minimized free passes and limited the damage to three runs. He recorded his third straight win and a quality start. The bullpen of Jung Hae-young, Kim Beom-su and Sung Young-tak shut down Doosan’s late rally. Offensively, Kim Seon-bin had three hits, while Adrullin, Kim Ho-ryeong and Kim Tae-gun each had two, leading the lineup.

Doosan starter Wes Benjamin suffered the loss, yielding nine hits and four runs (two earned) over six innings without much defensive support. Yang Eui-ji broke out of his slump with a three-hit game that included multiple homers; Cameron and Jung Soo-bin had two hits apiece, and Son Ah-seop, making his first-team return, added a hit and a walk — but their efforts were overshadowed by the loss.