How Ijaehyun‘s Grand Slam and Kangminho’s Power Play Led Samsung Lions to Victory

[SPOTV News — Jamsil, Reporter Choi Won-young] The Samsung Lions saw their eight-game winning streak end the night before, but they didn’t slide into a skid. Their offense erupted and the club closed out a winning series.

Samsung beat the LG Twins 9-5 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on May 14, 2026, in the Shinhan SOL KBO League. After dropping a 3-5 decision to LG on May 13, the Lions bounced back immediately to secure the series win.

The game turned in the second inning when Lee Jae-hyun ripped a grand slam and Kang Min-ho followed with a back-to-back homer. Lee’s grand slam was the fourth of his career and the eighth grand slam in the KBO this season. The Lee–Kang back-to-back made for the league’s sixth consecutive-homer pairing this year. Lee added another solo shot in the seventh to record his first multi-homer game.

Lee finished 3-for-4 with two homers and a career-high five RBIs, topping his previous single-game best of four. Despite his offensive outburst, he committed a few errors at shortstop.

Kang went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs, Lewin Diaz had two hits and an RBI, and Ryu Ji-hyeok added two hits.

Both Lee and Kang had recently been with the Futures squad — Lee while rehabbing a back injury and Kang to work through a slump. Before rejoining the first team, Lee was hitting .157 this season and Kang .197. Since their returns, both have been swinging the bat effectively.

Spot starter Yang Chang-seop weathered several defensive lapses to deliver a quality outing. He worked five innings, allowing four hits (one homer), one walk and three strikeouts while giving up two runs (one earned) on 92 pitches, earning his second win of the season.

Reliever Im Gi-young followed with three scoreless innings on 43 pitches. It was his first hold in 656 days — his last came July 27, 2024, with the KIA Tigers — and his three-inning hold was the third of its kind in the league this season and the 160th in KBO history.

◆ Starting lineups

- LG: Park Hae-min (CF) — Gu Bon-hyeok (3B) — Cheon Seong-ho (DH) — Austin Dean (1B) — Oh Ji-hwan (SS) — Song Chan-ui (LF) — Hong Chang-gi (RF) — Lee Joo-heon (C) — Shin Min-jae (2B). Starter: Song Seung-gi. Roster moves: Lachlan Wells optioned, Seong Dong-hyun added. Wells will skip his next start because of lower-back muscle soreness.

- Samsung: Ryu Ji-hyeok (2B) — Gu Ja-wook (LF) — Choi Hyeong-woo (DH) — Lewin Diaz (1B) — Park Seung-gyu (RF) — Jeon Byung-woo (3B) — Lee Jae-hyun (SS) — Kang Min-ho (C) — Kim Ji-chan (CF). Starter: Yang Chang-seop.

◆ Innings 1–3: Samsung gets homers, but makes errors

Song Seung-gi retired the side in order in the top of the first, while Yang matched him in the bottom.

In the second, Diaz reached on a first-base error by Austin Dean. Park Seung-gyu and Jeon Byung-woo followed with singles to load the bases with no outs. On a 133 km/h slider — Song’s fourth pitch of the at-bat — Lee Jae-hyun crushed a 105 m grand slam to left, giving Samsung a quick 4-0 lead. That was Lee’s second homer of the season.

One batter later, Kang targeted Song’s 120 km/h curve and launched a 118 m solo shot to left, pushing the score to 5-0 — his first homer of the season. Samsung left the inning after Diaz grounded out to first.

Yang closed the second with a 1-2-3 frame. In the third, Lee added an RBI single to center, but Samsung’s defense produced costly moments. A potential 4-6-3 double-play was broken when Lee dropped Ryu Ji-hyeok’s throw, allowing LG to keep a runner and later capitalize on another error to score, trimming the deficit to 5-1.

◆ Innings 4–6: Samsung pads the lead

Yang and Song traded clean innings in the fourth. In the fifth, after Choi Hyeong-woo popped out, Diaz reached on an infield single and Park drew a walk to load the bases. A pitching change brought in Kim Jin-so, and Jeon’s flyout scored a run on a bases-loaded walk to Lee. Kang followed with an RBI single to center to make it 7-1.

LG responded in the bottom of the fifth, putting runners on with two outs and scoring on a Lee fielding error to cut the deficit to 7-2. In a memorable duel in the fifth, Austin fouled off eight straight pitches before striking out looking on the 13th pitch and angrily tossed his bat and helmet.

In the sixth, Samsung threatened again but couldn’t extend the lead. Im Gi-young came on in the bottom of the sixth and escaped trouble by inducing a 3-6-3 double play, helped by sharp defense from Diaz and Lee.

◆ Innings 7–9: Lee seals it, Im shuts the door

In the seventh, with Seong Dong-hyun on the hill for LG, Lee took a 135 km/h slider and lifted a 117 m solo shot to left for his third homer of the year, making it 8-2. Samsung turned to Im in relief, and he promptly struck out Lee Joo-heon looking, induced a groundout and fanned Lee Jae-won to keep LG off the board.

In the eighth, rookie Ko Geon-hee made his first-team debut for LG. Samsung capitalized: Ryu’s single and Diaz’s left-field RBI brought in a run and pushed the lead to 9-2. Im returned in the bottom of the eighth and retired the side to preserve the margin.

Samsung brought in rookie Jung Jae-hoon for the ninth, and after a leadoff single and a hit-by-pitch put two on with no outs, LG’s Lee Joo-heon launched a three-run homer to left, cutting the deficit to 9-5. Samsung summoned right-hander Lee Seung-hyun to close out the final outs and secure the win.