Bae Ji-hwan ‘hits in 3 straight games’, edges closer to 0.7 OPS…team gives up ‘7 runs in one inning’ to ‘ML-worst’ OAK

Bae Ji-hwan (24, Pittsburgh Pirates) extended his hitting streak to three games, but it wasn’t enough to prevent his team from losing. Pittsburgh gave up seven runs in the first inning alone and dropped a three-game series to the Oakland Athletics, who are in last place in the majors.

Bae went 1-for-3 with a run scored, a run batted in and a walk in the eighth and center field spots in the 2023 Major League Baseball home opener against Oakland at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Aug. 8.

His season batting average rose from .275 to .276 and his OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) from .692 to .695. Through seven games, the average OPS for second basemen in the majors is 0.704, a number that suggests Bae has the fundamentals to be a starting second baseman.

Pittsburgh was unable to deal with the aftermath of starter Roansey Contreras’ no-hitter in the first inning, giving up seven runs on six hits with two walks and one strikeout in ⅓ of an inning, and lost 5-9. The A’s dropped the series to Oakland, ending a six-game winning streak with two straight losses.

Even Bae Ji-hwan, who has a strong shoulder, was no match for the collapsing mound. Contreras gave up a single up the middle to Brent Rooker with runners on first and second in the first inning and a single up the middle to Jonah Bride with runners on second and third. Pittsburgh was fortunate that Bae was able to limit the damage to just one runner on both occasions.

Trailing 5-0 with one out in the top of the first, Pittsburgh turned to Rob Jastrzejczyk, but he too gave up back-to-back singles to make it 7-0. 메이저놀이터 He then struck out Brent Rooker on a wild pitch and got Ramon Loriano to ground out to third base to end the long first inning.

Bae used his quick feet to get a hit in his first at-bat. Leading off the bottom of the third, he hit a grounder to shortstop and sprinted for an infield hit. He didn’t make it home on the next at-bat. In the bottom of the fourth inning, he hit a grounder to second base, but this time shortstop Kevin Smith made a good catch and threw to first for the out.

Bae returned to his natural position at second base in the seventh inning when Josh Palacios was inserted into the outfield. Brian Reynolds, who moved to center field in Bae’s place, had a tough time getting out of the jam as Seth Brown doubled and Rooker followed with an RBI single.

In all three at-bats, Bae’s balls didn’t get past the infield, or more accurately, Smith at shortstop. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Bae led off with a 94.9-mile-per-hour fastball from Ken Waldichuck, which he hit 96.1 miles per hour, but it went straight to the shortstop.

He was called out on a snowball instead of a hit. In the bottom of the ninth, Bae reunited with Waldichuck and took five pitches to reach first base on a walk, advanced to second on a Jason Delay single, moved to third on an Andrew McCutchen grounder, and scored on Reynolds’ single to right. It was Bae’s 29th run of the season and Pittsburgh’s final run of the day.

The Pirates chipped away at the deficit with a run in the second, two in the fourth and one in the seventh, but Carlos Santana was retired on a fly ball to right field with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth after Bae scored. The offense pounded out nine hits, including a 5-for-3 performance from Keebrian Hayes and a 4-for-2 performance from Rodolfo Castro with a home run and three RBIs, but Santana blew two chances – a bases-loaded walk in the seventh and a bases-loaded walk in the ninth – and had to accept the loss.

Meanwhile, Oakland rookie Hogan Harris, who made his debut this season, earned his first major league win in four starts with five innings of four-hit ball (one homer), three walks and two strikeouts. The offense pounded out 17 hits, including all of the starters, to help the rookie get his first win.