Bae Ji-hwan blasts again! Two-run blast against Korean pitcher ‘gives team a grand slam + debut win’
Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bae Ji-hwan (24-Pittsburgh Pirates) hit a two-run double off “Korean pitcher” Dane Dunning (29-U.S.). The team got a grand slam from Tukupita Makano and a complete game shutout from starter Luis Ortiz to secure the win.
The Pittsburgh Pirates won their 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) home game against the Texas Rangers, 6-4, at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., on March 23. Bae started at second base in the No. 8 spot and went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts. His season batting average remained at .254.
With the win, Pittsburgh snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 25-22. They remained in second place in the National League Central. Texas ended a three-game winning streak and improved to 29-18. They are in first place in the American League West.
Bae had a single at Detroit on Aug. 18, then completed his first four-hit game of the season with a three-hit performance at Arizona on Aug. 20. He produced a single at Arizona on Aug. 21, then was scratched from the lineup on Aug. 22. He returned to the lineup today and had a long ball. Hit safely in his last four games.
Pittsburgh got on the board first in the second inning. Leadoff hitter Hayes led off with a double to left field and moved to third on a subsequent grounder to first by Makano. Then, on Cho’s grounder to shortstop, Hayes scored from third (1-0).
Next up, Bae Ji-hwan came to the plate. First pitch is a strike. The second pitch was a ball. Pitch 3 and 4 were both fouls. And the fifth pitch. Dunning’s body slider (133.4 mph) was pulled well and landed in the right field seats. The pitch was clocked at 161.7 mph. Bae sprinted to second base, caught the ball as it rolled out of bounds and up to the fence, and stood to make the catch. It was Bae’s fifth double of the season. However, he was unable to score as the next batter, Hedges, lined out to center field.
Chances continued to fall in front of Bae. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Pittsburgh still held a 1-0 lead. A leadoff walk to Santana and a single to right by Makano put runners on first and third. Makano then stole second while Joe struck out on a seven-pitch count. Second and third base opportunities. Bae stepped up to the plate for the second time. Bae fouled off the first and second pitches to get into a bad count. Ball on the third pitch. In the fourth, Bae took a curveball (128.2 mph) right down the middle of the plate, but kept his head down for a grounder to second base.
With Pittsburgh unable to capitalize, Texas eventually tied the game. In the top of the sixth, Taveras led off with a single to right and went to third on a wild pitch and a subsequent Semien grounder to center field. Seeger followed with a sacrifice fly to left field down the foul line (1-1).
Bae had another RBI opportunity in the bottom of the next inning. Two batters later, a walk to Makano and a single to left by Cho put runners on first and second. The next batter was Bae Ji-hwan. Here, Texas switched pitchers, replacing Dunning with Josh Svotz. Unfortunately, Bae struck out on three consecutive curveballs from Svotz. He fumbled on a 136.9-kilometer curveball in the first inning, then stared at a 137.2-kilometer curveball outside the zone in the second. He then fouled off another 139-mph curveball on the third pitch and headed for the dugout without looking back. The result was a relentless changeup-oriented pitch mix by the opposing batter.
Pittsburgh finally put the game out of reach with a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh. Two batters later, Reynolds singled, Swinski walked and Santana followed with a single to right. A tag-out call at home was overturned as a save after video review.(2-1) Texas then switched pitchers to Joe Barlow. Barlow gave up a walk to Hayes to load the bases. Makano then took a 5-pitch high slider (138.4 mph) on a 2-2 count for a mid-month grand slam. The ball traveled 134 meters. His second home run of the season. The score quickly grew to 6-1. 안전놀이터
Texas got one run back in the top of the eighth on Semien’s RBI single to left-center. Bae led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single to center, giving his team a 6-2 lead. The opposing pitcher was Jonathan Hernandez. He tried to bunt the first pitch, but it was fouled off. He struck out swinging on a sinker (158 mph) that was completely outside the zone on the fifth pitch. Texas got a run back in the bottom of the ninth when Josh Young hit a chasing two-run shot over the center field fence off “closer” David Bednar. But there would be no more upsets, and the game ended in a 6-4 Pittsburgh victory.
Dunning, who improved to 4-0 on the season, pitched 5⅔ innings (97 pitches), allowing one run (one earned) on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts, but was unable to pick up the win. Dunning has a 1.67 ERA this season. Lowe, Young and Taveras had multi-hit games for Texas, which scattered seven hits. Josh Svotz took the loss.
Pittsburgh starter Ortiz went 7⅔ innings (93 pitches), allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts to earn his first win in two seasons. In a lineup that totaled 10 hits, all but Hedges in the No. 9 spot recorded a hit.