Kim Ha-seong
June 19, 2023
Kim Ha-seong scored zero even with 3 hits, and Petaju’two double hits’ broke the pulse… SD’Luxury Batting Line’
He succeeded in getting on base three times, but he didn't score a single point. Top hitter Kim Ha-sung (28, San Diego) played his role 100%, but the team was defeated. The double play was the problem. 스포츠토토
San Diego lost 4-9 in the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) away game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on the 28th (Korea Standard Time). This led San Diego to a three-game losing streak.
San Diego played in the lineup of Kim Ha-sung (second baseman), Fernando Tatis Jr. (right fielder), Juan Soto (left fielder), Manny Machado (third baseman), Xander Bogartz (shortstop), Gary Sanchez (catcher), Nelson Cruz (nominated hitter), Brandon Dixon (first baseman), and Trent Grisham (center fielder)
Even before the game, San Diego was hit by bad news. Right-hander Darvish Yu, who was originally scheduled to start, was unable to take the mound due to a physical condition. In response, San Diego urgently replaced the starting lineup with Reiss Kner.
Still, San Diego hit a high curve outside after a persistent game in which leadoff hitter Kim Ha-sung went up to seven pitches in the top of the first inning and hit a hit in front of the left fielder. However, in vain, the next batter Tatis touched the first pitch and missed the opportunity by hitting a double play leading to shortstop-second baseman-first baseman.
San Diego scored the first run with Sanchez's timely hit in the top of the second inning with one out and second base. It did not stop here, but Dixon and Grisham made a two-out full base chance in front of Kim Ha-sung with consecutive hits. In a decisive opportunity, Kim Ha-sung exploded a two-run timely hit in front of the center field to make the score 3-0. However, this time again, Tatis failed to score an additional point as he was out with a fly ball to second baseman.
Pittsburgh then tied Bae Ji-hwan's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second inning to tie the score by scoring three points, and added three points in the third and fourth innings to lead 6-3. San Diego ended the inning without scoring this time with Xander Bogartz's double play, even though Juan Soto, the first batter, walked in the top of the third inning.
Kim Ha-sung, who took a one-tempo break with a strikeout in the fifth inning, set the table again in his fourth at-bat. As the leadoff hitter in the top of the seventh inning, he hit an outer curve from Pittsburgh's second pitcher Roansi Contras to hit a hit that rolled in front of the center field. It was a four-point difference (4-8) situation, so the game could be turned back to square one at any time. But this time, Tatis couldn't take it back. He deleted the runner with a 6-4-3 double play after two pitches. It was a game where you couldn't see the league's home run king in 2021.
In the end, Kim Ha-sung never returned home even after recording three hits in five at-bats. Kim Ha-sung (2 RBIs) also scored the most RBIs in the team, and in fact, he played both the role of a table setter and a clean-up.
San Diego is a team that has a lineup of high-quality hitters such as Machado, Soto, Tatis, and Cruz. Therefore, he was considered a strong candidate for the championship even before the season. However, the average OPS of the league is 101, which is only 1% higher than the National League average. It is not taking advantage of the strong batting power at all.
As a result, San Diego's season performance is not satisfactory at all. San Diego ranked fourth in the National League West with 37 wins and 42 losses (0.468 winning percentage) in the season as of the 28th. Last season, he entered the postseason as a wild card, but this year, he is uncertain about his advance to autumn baseball, as he is pushed by the traditional LA Dodgers, the San Francisco Giants, and the Arizona Diamondbacks, who beat these two to become the world's No. 1 player.