Padres' Kim Ha-seong belts solo shot; Bae Ji-hwan, Pirates sweep series

Published : Jun 30, 2023 - 09:35 Updated : Jun 30, 2023 - 09:35

San Diego Padres' Ha-Seong Kim, right, celebrates with Manny Machado as he returns to the dugout after hitting a solo home run off Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Luis Ortiz during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres has won the battle but lost the war to a fellow South Korean player.

Kim smacked a solo home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Thursday. However, the Pirates, featuring their own South Korean player in infielder Bae Ji-hwan, won the game 5-4 to complete a three-game sweep of the Padres.

Kim, after batting leadoff in the past several games, hit out of the seventh spot in this game, and went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

Bae, who also batted seventh, went 0-for-2.

Kim put the Padres on the board with a sacrifice fly off starter Luis L. Ortiz in the top of the second.

Then with the Padres up 3-0 in the top of the fourth, Kim added to that lead by taking Ortiz to left center field for a solo homer.

It was Kim's ninth long ball of the season, and his fourth in the past seven games.

Kim hit a double in the eighth inning for his 15th multihit game of 2023. He is now batting .258/.344/.411 with nine homers and 30 RBIs in 77 games this year.

Bae, on the other hand, struck out in both of his trips to the plate, and was lifted for pinch hitter Rodolfo Castro to begin the seventh.

Bae has now gone hitless in 10 straight games and has seen his batting average fall from .269 to .237 in that stretch.

In this three-game set, Kim went 5-for-13 with a homer and four RBIs, while Bae was 0-for-4.

But the Pirates won all three games. After taking the first two games by 9-4 and 7-1, the Pirates completed their comeback in Thursday's finale with a three-run seventh. (Yonhap)