A choppy strike zone couldn’t stop Ha-Sung Kim (San Diego Padres).
On 9 September (KST), Kim batted first and second against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, USA. He struck out three times due to an unfair ball call, but managed to get a hit in his final at-bat. Kim went 1-for-4, extending his hitting streak to 14 games. San Diego lost the game 0-2.
Seattle starter Logan Gilbert pitched well, but the strike zone was very unfavourable to hitters on this day.
Ha-Sung Kim struck out three times against Gilbert. He struck out on a slider in the first and a splitter in the second. In his third at-bat, he was frustrated by an umpire’s bizarre strike call. On a two-strike, two-ball at-bat, a ball that was well away from his body was called a strike.
Kim was unable to leave the batter’s box for a while, indirectly expressing his frustration.
But even the “Pacific Zone” couldn’t stop him. Kim got one last chance as the leadoff hitter in the top of the ninth inning, trailing 0-2.
He faced Seattle closer Andres Munoz. Munoz took advantage of the generous pitch count. In pitches one and two, he kept his four-seam fastball right on the plate. It was a full strike and threatened to end Kim’s hitting streak.
With a lot on his mind, Munoz threw three pitches outside the zone. He fired a slider to the far side of the plate.카지노
There was no escaping Kim’s swing, which was full of power. Kim extended his reach as much as he could by extending his hips and letting go of his right hand. He chased the outside off delivery all the way and hit it to the centre of the bat. The ball landed in the right-centre gap, extending his hitting streak to 14 games.
Strikeouts in his previous three at-bats ended his 16-game multi-hit streak. Kim’s 15-game hitting streak is tied with Ichiro Suzuki for the Asian record. It was Ichiro’s hometown team, Seattle, that broke the record.