The LG Twins, the winner of the 2023 season in Korea, missed a chance to catch two two-run home runs by Kim Ha-sung (San Diego Padres). Kim Ha-sung, who returned home after playing for the Kiwoom Heroes four years after he entered the Major League (MLB), showed off his best batting sense. After losing 0-1 to San Diego, the Korean national baseball team lost 2-5 to LA Dodgers.
Kim Ha-sung started as the fifth batter shortstop in a practice game against LG in the 2024 MLB Seoul Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 18th, and led San Diego to a 5-4 victory with two hits (two home runs) and four RBIs in four at-bats.
Standing at the batter’s box at second base with no outs in the top of the second inning when the score was 0-0, Kim Ha-sung hit a changeup thrown in the middle of the sixth pitch of LG starter Lim Chan-kyu to hit the left fence. Kim Ha-sung’s first home run in the Seoul Series, which he recorded one hit in four at-bats in a practice game against the Korean national baseball team the previous day. It is the first time in 1,258 days that Kim Ha-sung hit a home run at Gocheok Sky Dome since the game against the NC Dinos on October 7, 2020.
Kim Ha-sung, who struck out swinging at his second at-bat in the top of the fourth inning when his team was leading 2-1, hit another home run at his third at-bat in the sixth inning. Taking the batter’s box with one out and runners on the first base, Kim drew a body changeup of LG’s second pitcher Jung Woo-young on the fourth pitch, drawing a two-run arch well over the left fence. Kim Ha-sung’s superb batting skills stood out. “I got lucky and hit the homerun,” Kim said after the game.
LG is also not taking the hit. Oh Ji-hwan, the 2023 Korean Series MVP, hit a cut fastball in the seventh pitch of San Diego starter Dylan Cease without a runner at the bottom of the second inning when his team was losing 0-2, and hit a solo shot over the right wall. Cease, who played for the Chicago White Sox until last year, played 14 wins and 8 losses with an ERA of 2.20 in 2022, and is a fire bowler who throws fast balls with a maximum speed of 157 kilometers per hour.
Although Kim Ha-sung allowed a two-run home run, LG starter Lim Chan-kyu saved the pride of the most wins (14 wins and 3 losses) among domestic pitchers last season by blocking the MLB slugging line with four hits, two runs, and seven strikeouts in five innings. 밤알바
Coming out as San Diego’s closing pitcher with a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, Ko sweated hard against LG batters who shared the joy of winning the KBO League title last year. Having allowed Park Hae-min a hit to the center field, Ko took a breather by disposing Kim Hyun-jong as a strikeout. However, he threw a fastball that was driven to the center by Lee Jae-won with one out and a runner on the first base, and allowed a two-run shot to the left-center field. Ko ended the game by striking out Son Ho-young, his follow-up batter, and dealing with Koo Bon-hyuk as a straight hit to the third base.