San Diego Padres Kim Ha-seong has been thrilled for the first time in a long time. While writing the 100th RBI record in the major league career, he put the brakes on the good flow of opposing pitchers on the one hand.
Kim Ha-seong started as a second baseman and a 7th hitter in the 2023 Major League Cincinnati Reds home match held at Petco Park in San Diego, California, USA on the 2nd (hereinafter Korean time), and scored 2 hits in 4 at-bats (1 home run), 3 RBIs and 2 runs. Swinging the bat, he led the team’s 8-3 victory.
It was a game in which Kim Ha-seong’s presence was very prominent in every important situation. Kim Ha-seong started the game without getting a hit in the first scoring chance in the first inning with a 2-0 lead. However, in the second at-bat at the end of the 3rd inning, trailing 2-3, he came out as the lead batter and hit a double to give the team a chance to score, and the follow-up hitter, Trent Grisham, stepped home on a timely hit to tie the game for San Diego.
It was his third at-bat that showed off his most impressive performance. Ha-seong Kim faced the changed pitcher Alex Young at the end of the 5th inning with 2 out on 1st and 2nd base with a score of 3-3, and did not miss the 86.7 mile (approximately 139.5 km) changeup in the 5th pitch being driven into the middle of the strike zone. Ha-sung Kim pulled Young’s changeup with all his might through a thunderbolt-like swing.
The batted ball that was hit so well spread out toward the left field at a speed of 101.2 miles (about 162.9 km), drawing a low parabola. As the launch angle was not high, it seemed unlikely that it would lead to a home run, but Kim Ha-seong’s batted ball led to a three-run home run that slightly crossed the left wall, which led to the finish line.
It was a home run that led the team to victory, but this home run was also a very valuable home run for Ha-seong Kim personally. Kim Ha-seong, who had recorded 99 RBIs in his major league career before the game, broke the 100 RBI mark by accumulating 3 RBIs. And on the 10th of last month, he succeeded in breaking the trend that hadn’t come out since the game against the Atlanta Braves.
It was an unforgettable day for Ha-seong Kim, but on the other hand, Alex Young, who gave up a home run, was not different. After hitting a home run against the Minnesota Twins on September 8, 2021, when Young belonged to the last Cleveland Guardians, he did not allow a single home run until the game that day. In particular, last year, he played for the Cleveland and San Francisco Giants, showing 25 games (26⅔ innings) of no-run home runs.메이저놀이터
However, when Kim Ha-seong hit a home run, the meaningful march was put on hold. “Yahoo Sports” of the United States said, “Ha-sung Kim’s home run broke Young’s 41⅔inning home run streak,” and “It could ruin the home game of Fernando Tatis Jr., who was suspended for 80 games for taking a banned substance in front of 33,791 lively crowds.” It destroyed Cincinnati’s chances,” he said.
It could be just one home run out of many. However, the happy and unforgettable day for Ha-seong Kim and the unforgettable day in the worst situation for Young, the joy and sorrow of the two properly intersect.