카지노사이트A day after returning to the starting lineup, Gold Glove-calibre defence and three unearned runs off opposing errors helped the San Diego Padres snap a six-game losing streak.
Kim went 1-for-5 with a walk, a hit, a strikeout and two runs scored in his return to the lineup at first and second base in the Padres’ 2023 Major League Baseball opener against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, on 2 February. He reached base three times and scored twice on opposing errors, but his season batting average dropped from .258 to .257 and his on-base percentage from .346 to .344.
San Diego escaped a six-game losing streak with a 12-5 blowout of Cincinnati, led by Juan Soto, Manny Machado and others in the middle of the order. The Reds are now 38-45 on the season and fourth in the National League West. Cincinnati ended its winning streak at three, but remained in first place in the NL Central.
Kim, who returned to the starting lineup after suffering a hamstring injury the day before, made his presence felt in defence with his quick thinking and accurate delivery. In the bottom of the third inning with San Diego up 1-0 and the bases loaded, Will Benson sent a grounder to an obscure spot behind the pitcher. Benson has the same sprint speed as Tommy Edmon (St. Louis Cardinals), who reached 30 stolen bases for the second straight year, and is in the top 11 per cent of runners in the majors, per Statcast. Even such a player was helpless in front of Kim.
In what could have been an infield hit, Kim didn’t hesitate to catch the ball and throw to first base. The result was a narrow out. A bases-loaded situation turned into a one-out double play.
At the plate, he struggled in his first two at-bats against opposing starter Brandon Williamson with a foul-tipped strikeout and a fly ball to left field. His third at-bat was a fastball clocked at 96.2 miles per hour (154.8 km/h), but it was caught in front of the fence.
Williamson was replaced by Buck Palmer in the sixth inning after being hit by Austin Nola, and that’s when his luck started to turn around. Kim hit a hard grounder that shortstop Eli De La Cruz missed. It would have been an error, but a fielder’s choice put runners on first and second with no outs. Soto followed with a triple to right-centre field, scoring Kim for the first run of the game.
In the bottom of the seventh, Kim struck again against reliever Alec Mills. This time, it was a throwing error by third baseman Spencer Steer, who pulled hard on a fastball that came in towards his body and Steer made a bad throw to first base. Kim took advantage of the opportunity to advance to second base and then came home when Fernando Tatis Jr. singled up the middle.
In his final at-bat, he managed to get another pitcher, Eduardo Salazar, to hit a 92.3 mph (145.8 km/h) sinker low and away. However, he was stranded at first base and failed to score.
Meanwhile, San Diego, which had been hit by two home runs in extra innings the day before in a walk-off loss, made up for it with three home runs on the day. Tatis Jr. opened the scoring with a two-out, two-run single to right in the third, and Soto and Machado combined on a back-to-back homer in the sixth to break the game open with four runs.
With the bases loaded in the seventh, Trent Grisham singled to right and Nola drove in a run with a groundout to make it 7-1. Tatis Jr. followed with an RBI single up the middle and Machado blasted another two-run shot to left-centre field to extend the lead to 10-1. Cincinnati chipped away at the deficit in the bottom of the seventh on a Jonathan India single to centre, but Tatis Jr. and Soto delivered back-to-back sacrifice flies to score two runs in the top of the eighth with the bases loaded.
San Diego starter Michael Wacka improved to 8-2 on the season with five innings of five-hit ball, two walks, four strikeouts and one run, while Tatis Jr. went 2-for-4 with a timely RBI. Soto and Machado were also solid at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs and 2-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs, respectively.