Ji-hwan Bae of the Pittsburgh Pirates used his quick feet to produce a double and recorded a hit in three consecutive games.
Bae Ji-hwan started as center fielder and first hitter in the 2023 Major League Baseball away game against the Atlanta Braves held at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia, USA on the 9th (Korean time) and recorded 1 hit in 4 at-bats. He maintained a season batting average of 0.241 (66 hits in 274 at-bats).
Bae Ji-hwan, who recorded a hit in 5 consecutive games from the Chicago Cubs game on the 28th of last month to the St. Louis Cardinals game on the 3rd, had a no-hitter in the game against the Milwaukee Brewers on the 5th, but reported a hit again and continued his hitting streak in 3 consecutive games until this day.
The previous day, on the 7th, he made his first triple in his debut in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Bae Ji-hwan came to the plate with one out and one on first base in the bottom of the 7th inning when both teams were tied 3-3, and hit a long ball that split the right-center field after hitting a three-pitch slider from Milwaukee’s Elvis Peguero.
Meanwhile, first base runner Jason DeLay passed third base and reached home, and Bae Ji-hwan passed second base and ran to third base. It was the moment he completed his first triple in his big league debut. Bae Ji-hwan added a run by hitting home on pinch hitter Miguel Andujar’s heavy hit from 1st and 3rd base with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 3rd base after an automatic intentional 4-ball throw and a strikeout by Brian Hayes. It was the final score that decided the game.
And there was a long hit that day too. Bae Ji-hwan, who started as the leadoff hitter in the top of the first inning, targeted Atlanta starter Bryce Elder’s four-pitch, 144km/h sinker and hit inside the left foul line. The 80m distance seemed a bit short to reach second base, but Bae Ji-hwan ran toward second base without hesitation and touched the base, receiving a safe decision. However, despite this hustle play, there was no follow-up batter to call Bae Ji-hwan home.
Bae Ji-hwan, who decorated his first at-bat with a pleasant hit, also showed good defense in the bottom of the first inning. Atlanta’s leader Ronald Acuña Jr. reached base due to an error by the shortstop, and after Aji Albis’ fly ball, Matt Olson hit a hit to right, creating a crisis with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd bases. Bae Ji-hwan showed off his skills by jumping out and catching Marcell Ozuna’s fast ball. .
There were no scores in the second inning either. Andy Rodriguez retired with a ground ball to first base, Josh Palacios struck out, and Riober Peguero was caught with a ground ball to shortstop, resulting in a three-way strike. Atlanta’s leader Travis Dano struck out, Michael Harris was caught with a straight hit to second base, and Orlando Arcia hit to right, but Nicky Lopez’s grounder to shortstop ended the inning without a score.
Bae Ji-hwan failed to produce a hit after his first at-bat. In the top of the third inning, when the score was still 0-0, Pittsburgh had a chance to put a runner on first base when Alfonso Rivas walked and stole base. After Alika Williams struck out, Bae Ji-hwan, who came into his second at-bat with one out and second base, hit a grounder to shortstop on the first pitch and had to be satisfied with Rivas advancing to third base.
Atlanta scored as many as 8 runs from the bottom of the third to the bottom of the fifth and took the lead. In the bottom of the third inning, Atlanta had a chance to load the bases with one out thanks to Acuña’s hit to left, Olson’s hit to left, and Ozuna’s hit to right-center, and took the lead with Eddie Rosario’s timely hit. With the bases loaded, Dano’s timely hit to left added 2 points. Afterwards, Harris retired with a fly ball to right field, but Rosario went to third base and succeeded in hitting home when Arcia hit to left.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, they added one more run with Akunan’s solo home run, and after Olson got on base with a ball hit by his body, they added two more runs with Rosario’s two-run shot with two outs and one on first base. With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, Atlanta scored one more run and overtook Pittsburgh with Arcia’s double to left, Lopez’s grounder to first base, and Acuna’s timely hit to right.
Bae Ji-hwan came to the plate as the leadoff hitter in the top of the 6th inning when the score was 0-8, but had to swallow his disappointment due to a fly ball to left field on the second pitch. After Bae Ji-hwan was out, Pittsburgh trailed by 6 points, 2-8, thanks to Jack Swinski’s superior two-run shot after Hayes’ double to left.먹튀검증
However, there were no additional goals from either team after that. In the top of the 7th inning, Palacios and Riobert struck out in succession, and the inning ended with a three-way strike when Rivas hit a grounder to base. Atlanta also failed to create a chance as Harris and Arcia struck out and Lopez was caught with a fly ball to left field.
In the top of the 8th inning, when the score was still 2-8 and the score was 6, Williams hit a hit to left-center and was on first base with no outs. Bae Ji-hwan hit a three-pitch, four-seam fastball from replaced pitcher Dylan Lee, but the ball went to the shortstop. With lead runner Williams out, Bae Ji-hwan reaches first base. Bae Ji-hwan then advanced to second base on Brian Reynolds’ hit, but ended the inning with a double out on Hayes’ batted ball.
After that, Bae Ji-hwan had no more opportunities to bat. Atlanta, ahead by 6 points, brought up Ben Heller in the top of the 9th inning, and after Swinski was caught with a foul fly to third base, Rodriguez was also caught with a fly ball to left field. Palacios grounded out to shortstop and the game ended in Atlanta’s victory.
Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller was the losing pitcher, allowing 12 hits, 4 strikeouts, and 8 runs in 5 innings. Next, Jose Hernández pitched two scoreless innings, and Hunter Stratton pitched one scoreless inning. Atlanta starter Bryce Elder became the winning pitcher after pitching 7 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts, and 2 runs, and Dylan Lee and Heller each pitched 1 scoreless inning to close out the game.