Pittsburgh Pirates Bae Ji-hwan rose to second place alone in the stolen base category.
Bae Ji-hwan started as second baseman No. 8 in an away game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on the 4th (Korean time) and recorded 2 hits, 1 walk and 2 steals in 3 at-bats, demonstrating explosive mobility again. He raised his season batting average to 0.262.
In the first at-bat in the top of the second inning, Bae Ji-hwan, who got on base with a walk after a full-count battle with opponent starter Shane McClarnahan, went on base with a bunt hit in the second at-bat in the top of the fourth inning, trailing 1-3, and immediately stole second base.
Bae Ji-hwan, who was at bat after the second death, put his bat out to Mcclanahan’s second pitch, a 95.3-mile fastball, and bunt toward second base. Bae Ji-hwan arrived at first base before Tampa Bay second baseman Brandon Law could catch it.
After stealing bases from Austin Hedges at bat, Bae Ji-hwan advanced to third base with a wild throw from the opponent. Bae Ji-hwan, who started with a ball count of 2S, settled down comfortably on second base, and advanced to third base while McClarnahan’s 85.4 mile changeup on the third pitch veered far from the catcher’s mitt and became a wild throw. However, he failed to reach home due to a follow-up hit.
It is the first time in three days since Bae Ji-hwan’s stolen base against the Washington Nationals on the 1st.
Then, with a score of 1-6, he added a hit and a stolen base in the top of the 6th inning. Bae Ji-hwan, who started as the lead batter, pushed a fastball from the outside of 95 mph after a full count with opponent Chase Anderson, hit left-handed and went on base. Bae Ji-hwan, who succeeded in stealing second base in Hedges’ at-bat, advanced to third base on Hedges’ ground ball, but failed to score due to a missed follow-up hit.
Bae Ji-hwan, who succeeded in stealing his 12th and 13th bases in a row, trailed Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, who ranked first overall in this category, by one car. Acuna Junior recorded 14 stolen bases against the New York Mets the day before.
Despite Bae Ji-hwan’s explosive base-running, Pittsburgh failed to hit the right time and eventually lost 1-8. Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller took the loss by giving up 5 runs on 5 hits in 5 innings. He went 3-1 with a 3.32 earned run average for his first loss of the season.
Pittsburgh scored first with a solo home run by Andrew McCutchen in the top of the 3rd inning, but Tampa Bay reversed the charter to 3-1 in the bottom of the 3rd inning with three hits, including two RBIs by Law and an error by Pittsburgh shortstop Rodolfo Castro.
Tampa Bay ran away with 2 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning, 5-1. Bae Ji-hwan went back and forth between heaven and hell in defense.
Bae Ji-hwan caught a hit ball from 1st out and 2nd baseman Yandy Diaz with a body blow, then threw it to 1st base in reverse motion and put it out. However, after trying to catch Wander Franco’s grounder from 3rd baseman and throwing it home, the belated throw to 1st became a bad throw, so the runner on 3rd base stepped on the home base and the batter runner advanced to 3rd base. Bae Ji-hwan’s 5th mistake of the season 크크크벳.
Tampa Bay sealed the game with Josh Law’s dominant solo home run in the 6th inning and Franco’s mid-month solo home run in the 7th inning.