The San Diego Padres’ chances of advancing to the postseason are becoming increasingly slim, but Kim Ha-seong’s performance continued.

Ha-seong Kim started as a second baseman and first hitter in the 2023 Major League Baseball away game against the St. Louis Cardinals held at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, USA on the 31st (Korean time) and played with 2 hits in 4 at-bats, 1 RBI, and 1 run. His season batting average of 0.276 rose slightly to 0.278.

On the first day of a three-game series with St. Louis on the 29th, Ha-seong Kim started the series in a good mood by overcoming his silence in three consecutive games and scoring a hit. And the previous day (30th), he swung a fire bat, getting 2 hits and 1 walk, giving 1 RBI and 1 run. However, the ‘3-on-base’ game faded as San Diego suffered a comeback loss after hitting a walk-off home run by ‘Korean’ Tommy Edman.

San Diego, which had made a huge investment ahead of this season and aimed to advance to the postseason and win the World Series (WS), is losing hope for fall baseball as time passes. However, Ha-seong Kim’s good performance continued. Ha-seong Kim played with multiple hits on this day and successfully reached base in 12 consecutive games, starting with the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on the 19th.

Kim Ha-seong’s bat heated up from his first at-bat, an upward trend that also destroyed the selection for the U.S. World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team. Ha-seong Kim faced off against St. Louis starting pitcher Myles Mikolas, a former member of the WBC U.S. national team and a Japanese professional baseball “reverse export legend,” and when the 91.2 mph (approximately 146.8 km) sinker on the second pitch hit the center of the strike zone, he held out his bat without hesitation and hit the center fielder. He got a hit in every direction.

Kim Ha-seong, who succeeded in getting on base with a single from the first inning, stepped on second base on follow-up hitter Juan Soto’s surprise bunt, giving the team a chance to score, and succeeded in scoring the first run by crossing third base and home on Manny Machado’s timely hit. did.

Ha-seong Kim completed a ‘multi-hit’ right away in his second at-bat. While he played the role of opener in his first at-bat, this time he showed off his power as a ‘solver’. Ha-seong Kim pulled a 73.8 mile (about 118.8 km) curve that formed toward the body of Mycolas’ first pitch in the top of the second inning with 2 outs and runners on first and second base with a 1-0 lead. Ha-seong Kim’s batted ball led to a hit that fell exquisitely in front of left field, bringing home a runner on second base and scoring an RBI.

Afterwards, one dizzying scene occurred. Ha-seong Kim reached third base on a timely hit from follow-up batter Soto. At this time, the foul ball Machado hit headed quickly toward third base, and Kim Ha-seong was almost hit by this hit. Fortunately, Ha-seong Kim narrowly avoided being hit by falling, but unfortunately he was unable to hit home as the follow-up hit did not occur.

# Unfortunately, I missed the lake rain. However, Ha-seong Kim’s defense was solid.

Ha-seong Kim had one disappointing defense in the bottom of the third inning. It was not because he made a mistake, but because he missed the lake fee. In the bottom of the third inning, the ball hit by St. Louis leadoff hitter Richie Palisios headed towards second base where Ha-seong Kim was located, and at this time, Ha-seong Kim attempted a ‘jump catch’. However, the batted ball hit Ha-seong Kim’s glove and fell, causing the disappointment of what could have been a ‘super jump catch’ becoming a hit. However, the defense remained solid.

St. Louis continued with no outs at first base, and the ball hit by Meishin Win headed toward third base. At this time, Machado handed the ball to Ha-seong Kim to create a double play, and Ha-seong Kim threw the ball to the first baseman. But here, St. Louis applied for a video review. Ha-seong Kim’s foot left the base quickly while throwing the ball to first base after receiving Machado’s throw. However, Kim Ha-seong, who has solid fundamentals, accurately stepped on the base, caught the throw, and continued the follow-up play, and the decision was not overturned.

The disappointment of the 3rd episode was made up for by the lake rain of the 5th episode. In the bottom of the 5th inning, with one out and no runners on base, Edman’s batted ball headed to the left of second baseman. At this time, Ha-seong Kim sprinted at full speed to catch the batted ball with his backhand, then showed off a running throw with a reverse motion, and showed great skill by turning Edman’s hit batted ball into an out, creating all three outs in the 5th inning, ending the inning.

# Tommy ‘Hyeonsu’ Edman ended his second day in a row, and San Diego cried again.

Kim Ha-seong, who recorded multiple hits early in the first or second inning, attacked Mycolas’ curve once again in his third at-bat in the top of the fifth inning as the leadoff hitter, but was dismissed by a fly ball to left field. And in the top of the 7th inning with the score tied at 3-3, he faced off against pitcher John King, who had been replaced, in his fourth at-bat with one out and a scoring chance on second base, and ended the day with a grounder to third base.

On this day, San Diego experienced an even greater shock than the shocking loss of the previous day. On this day, San Diego started the game in a good mood with Machado scoring the first run in the scoring opportunity created by Kim Ha-seong’s hit in the first inning. And in the second inning, Ha-seong Kim and Soto made consecutive timely hits, widening the gap to 3-0.

But the joy didn’t last long. St. Louis had the opportunity to reach first and third base with no outs in the fourth inning as Wilson Contreras and Nolan Arenado hit consecutive hits, and ‘super prospect’ Jordan Walker, ranked 21st overall in the first round of the 2020 rookie draft, fired a three-run gun to tie the game. The game was brought back to square one.온라인바카

After the tie was made, it was San Diego that broke the tight momentum. San Diego seemed to have missed a chance to score in the top of the 7th inning as Kim Ha-seong was silent with one out and runners on second base. However, Soto, the follow-up hitter, hit a timely hit to regain the lead, taking control of the game again at 4-3. After starting pitcher Rich Hill (4 innings, 3 runs) went down, San Diego maintained the lead with Luis Garcia (2 innings), Tom Cosgrove (⅓ innings), and Scott Barrow (1⅔ innings) taking the mound in order. However, the game was overturned in one hit in the bottom of the 9th inning.

Edman, who played as a pinch hitter the previous day (30th) and led the team to victory with a walk-off hit, was the same on this day. Edman faced San Diego ‘closer’ Josh Hader in the bottom of the 9th inning, down 4-3, with 2 outs and runners on first base. He pushed Hader’s outside sinker with all his might and scored a walk-off two-run shot that went over the right-field fence, resulting in a thrilling comeback victory. . On the other hand, San Diego ended their three-game series with St. Louis in a losing series after losing for two days in a row.