Pittsburgh Pirates Choi Ji-man and Bae Ji-hwan wrote the history of starting with a Korean hitter for the first time in the major leagues.
The two players were named in the starting lineup side by side in an away game against the Cincinnati Reds held at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio on the 3rd (Korean time). Choi Ji-man played as designated hitter No. 5 and Bae Ji-hwan played second baseman No. 8. 토토사이트
However, both were silent with no hits. Choi Ji-man recorded no hits in 4 at-bats, including 3 strikeouts, and Bae Ji-hwan recorded 1 strikeout and no hits in 3 at-bats, respectively.
Previously, the two players created a rare scene appearing at bat consecutively in the game against Cincinnati the previous day. While Bae Ji-hwan started as center fielder in the 8th inning, Bae Ji-hwan struck out after one death in the top of the 9th inning, and Choi Ji-man appeared as a pinch hitter and was out with a fly in right field. The fact that a Korean hitter appeared as a continuous hitter is also a negative in the history of the major leagues.
Pittsburgh batters such as Choi Ji-man and Bae Ji-hwan knelt 1-3, struggling with 6 hits against pitchers such as Cincinnati right-hander Graham Ashcraft.
It was Choi Ji-man who entered the plate first. In the top of the second inning when the score was 0-0, Choi Ji-man, who took his first at-bat after one out, struck out while staring blankly at Ashcraft’s 96-mile high cutter coming into the strike zone on a full count.
Bae Ji-hwan made his first at-bat as the first baseman without a single in the top of the third inning when the score was 0-1. However, after a close battle that went all the way to the 9th pitch, Ashcraft’s 96 mph high cutter threw the bat in vain and struck out.
Choi Ji-man then went to bat with a runner on first base after one out in the fourth inning, trailing 1-2, but again struck out and withdrew. In the ball count 2B2S, he struck out looking again with a 95 mph cutter. Bae Ji-hwan withdrew with a ground ball to second baseman after one death in the top of the 5th inning, his second at-bat.
Ji-Hwan Choi struck out with a swing as the lead batter in the 7th inning and bowed his head again. In the same inning situation with runner 2nd after 2nd, Ji-Hwan Bae hit a shortstop grounder. At the beginning of the ninth inning, trailing by 1-3, Choi Ji-man appeared as the lead batter, but he retreated with a floating ball in center field and could not take any more chances.
The two players were humiliated with a total of 7 at-bats, 4 strikeouts, and failed to shine on a historic day.
As for the season performance, Choi Ji-man has no hits in 5 at-bats in 2 games, and Bae Ji-hwan has 2 hits in 10 at-bats and 2 runs in 3 games, with a batting average of 0.200. In the opening game on the 31st, Bae Ji-hwan is silent after making a big success with 2 hits in 3 at-bats, 1 walk, 2 steals and 2 runs.