The Pittsburgh Pirates achieved a thrilling comeback victory. At the center was Bae Ji-hwan’s bat and the main force like a runaway locomotive.
Bae Ji-hwan started as a center fielder and first hitter in the 2023 Major League Baseball home match against the Milwaukee Brewers held at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA on the 7th (Korean time) and performed well with 1 hit in 4 at-bats, 1 RBI, and 1 run.안전놀이터
Bae Ji-hwan had a hit in five consecutive games, starting with the Chicago Cubs on the 28th of last month and continuing with the St. Louis Cardinals on the 3rd. In the first game against Milwaukee on the 5th, the momentum seemed to be broken as they went silent with no hits, but they hit again the day before (the 6th) and succeeded in continuing the good trend by getting a hit again on this day.
In particular, Ji-hwan Bae attempted to steal base after hitting a hit the previous day and getting on base, creating a safe timing. However, he suffered the disappointment of being ruled out as he was unable to control his speed and fell off the base. But on this day, his quick feet really shined. With tremendous effort, he exploded with a triple and took the lead in the team’s victory.
The flow of the game at the beginning was not very good. In his first at-bat as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the first inning when he was down 0-3, Bae Ji-hwan held out his bat to Milwaukee’s ‘ace’ Freddie Peralta’s 88 mph (approximately 141.6 km) changeup that flowed outside the strike zone on the second pitch, but the third baseman grounded it. The game started with a retreat.
The silence continued. In his second at-bat with 1 out and 1 base on base in the bottom of the 3rd inning, when Bae Ji-hwan was down 1-3, he had a tenacious battle with Peta all the way to the 7th pitch, hitting a 93.7 mph (approximately 150.8km) four-seam fastball with a grounder to shortstop, and Se as the lead hitter in the bottom of the 6th. The second at-bat was also a ground ball to third base and he rarely produced a hit. However, ‘one shot’ was enough for him to lead the team to victory.
It was Bae Ji-hwan’s fourth at bat that his bat woke up. Ji-hwan Bae faced off against pitcher Elvis Peguero, who had been replaced, in the bottom of the 7th inning with one out and runners on first base, with the game tied 3-3. After filtering out both the first and second pitches, Bae Ji-hwan did not miss the 88.4 mile (about 142.3km) slider on the third pitch in the middle of the strike zone at a favorable count of 2B-0S.
The ball Bae Ji-hwan hit traveled like a bullet at a speed of 110.2 miles (approximately 177.3 km), headed toward right field and center field, and split the teeth. Bae Ji-hwan, who ran so hard that his helmet came off, seemed to be returning home after passing the second base base, but after watching Milwaukee’s broadcast play, he soon sprinted toward third base and exploded with a come-from-behind, RBI triple. First triple in the major league.
Bae Ji-hwan, who scored a comeback RBI, even played a role in driving a wedge into the victory. Pittsburgh ended the game on a good note when Miguel Andujar singled with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 3rd base, and Bae Ji-hwan, who was the runner on third base, hit home to widen the gap to 5-3.
A thrilling comeback win. Bae Ji-hwan was the ‘main character’. Milwaukee takes the lead. In the first inning, Milwaukee had a scoring opportunity created by consecutive walks by Christian Yelich and William Contreras, and Willy Adames hit a three-run gun to take the lead 0-3. Then Pittsburgh also started chasing. Pittsburgh narrowed the gap to two runs in the bottom of the first inning when Keyblaine Hayes hit a solo home run with no runners on base and two outs.
The game, which developed into a tight pitching battle after trading blows one at a time in the first inning, began to gradually turn in Pittsburgh’s favor from the sixth inning. Pittsburgh balanced the score at 3-3 with Jack Swinsky and Joshua Palacios hitting consecutive timely hits in a chance created by Brian Reynolds’ hit and Brian Hayes’ walk. And Pittsburgh won the game in the 7th inning.
Pittsburgh started to take control of the game in the bottom of the 7th inning with one out and one on first base when Ji-Hwan Bae hit a comeback triple with an RBI, and Duha Ahn called Bae Ji-Hwan home and succeeded in running away with a score of 5-3. Milwaukee made up for one run in the top of the 8th inning, but the Pittsburgh Mound finished the game without allowing any additional runs and achieved a thrilling comeback victory, ending the three-game series with Milwaukee as a ‘winning series’.