Bae Ji-hwan (24) of the Pittsburgh Pirates of the Major League (MLB) is accelerating the competition to become the king of stolen bases. He succeeded in stealing his 14th base of the season, closely chasing the lead by one.
Bae Ji-hwan started as the first batter and second baseman in the 2023 MLB regular season match against the Toronto Blue Jays held at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA on the 6th (Korean time) and recorded no hits and one walk in three at-bats. As he went hitless for two straight games, his season batting average dropped from 0.253 to 0.244 (22 hits in 90 at-bats).
He went on base only once, but it was enough to save Bae Ji-hwan’s foot. It was the first time that he succeeded in getting on base. In his first at-bat at the end of the first inning, he walked on first base against Toronto starting pitcher Chris Bassett.
Bae Ji-hwan did not hesitate to steal. He immediately succeeded in stealing his 14th base of the season, narrowing the gap with 15 of Ronald Acuña Jr. (Atlanta Braves), who is running first in all MLB steals, to 1.
But I couldn’t steal it until 3rd base. After successfully stealing second base, Bae Ji-hwan also aimed for third base, but was caught. This is the second stolen base failure this season.
After that, it was silent. No matter how fast it was, it was difficult to steal first base. Bae Ji-hwan, who hit a fly ball to second base at the end of the third inning, retreated with a ground ball to second base at the end of the sixth inning. Bae Ji-hwan entered the last at-bat at the end of the 8th inning with no runners out, but it also ended up with a ground ball to second base.
Meanwhile, Bae Ji-hwan, who sprinted for an infield hit after batting in the 8th inning, felt discomfort in his leg on the way, and was eventually replaced during the defense at the beginning of the 9th inning.
Pittsburgh lost to Toronto 0-4. Recently, they have fallen into a five-game losing streak and are unable to continue their April momentum. On the other hand, Toronto, where Bassett pitched 7 scoreless innings, escaped from a recent 5-game losing streak with a victory that day. ㅋㅋㅋ벳