In his first game back at second base since a shoulder injury, Ha Sung Kim (San Diego Padres) had a multi-hit game and helped his team to a valuable win.
Kim batted first and second in the lineup against the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB) on Sunday at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, USA, and went 2-for-5 with a double.
It was his eighth consecutive game with a hit, raising his average to .281. Behind Kim’s performance, San Diego went on to win 8-5.먹튀검증
Kim, who was in pain after slamming his shoulder into the opposing catcher’s knee while attempting a head-first slide at home plate on March 31, returned to his usual spot at second base after playing the previous day as a designated hitter with a shoulder brace.
In the first and third innings, he struck out and flied out to center field, respectively. But in the top of the fifth inning, with the score tied 1-1, he took a three-pitch slider from right-hander Peter Lambert with runners on first and second for an infield single. The ball deflected off the bat and rolled slowly toward the third baseman, who made the catch, but Kim had already reached first base.
With the bases loaded, San Diego scored four runs on a Fernando Tatis Jr. groundout and a Juan Soto three-run homer to center field to take a 5-1 lead.
Kim was held to a grounder to third base in the top of the seventh. Down 5-4 in the top of the eighth, San Diego answered with a run on Juan Soto’s second solo home run of the game to make it 6-4.
With Trent Grisham’s RBI single in the top of the ninth making it 7-4, Kim came to the plate again with runners on first and second in the top of the ninth and hit a single to right-center off reliever Jake Bird. With the RBI, Kim increased his RBI total to 40 on the season.
On the next pitch, Kim stole second base on a head-first slide, giving him his 22nd stolen base of the season. Tying the all-time record for most stolen bases in a season by a Korean hitter (22) set by Choo Shin-soo (now with SSG Rangers) in 2010, Kim needs just one more stolen base to surpass Choo.