At the 0-1 count, San Diego Padres batter Tyler Wade hit the sweeper in the center. A 71.8 mile-speed, 36-degree black ball attempted to fall in front of center field. Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Bae Ji-hwan sprinted and slid to put his glove on it, but the ball bounced off the glove.
How does Pittsburgh outfielder Bae Ji-hwan remember this scene?
Bae Ji-hwan started as the eighth center fielder in the home game against San Diego at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on the 7th (Korea Standard Time).
He followed Wade with runners on the first and third bases with one out in the top of the fifth inning, but unfortunately missed the hit. The hit led to his team’s first run and allowed four runs on consecutive hits afterward. The team eventually lost the game 0-6.
“It was a hit,” he said briefly about the scene. When he said, “I think I’ll keep thinking about that scene,” he continued, “Not really. Rather, it’s a waste of my hit.”
The game was suspended due to rain ahead of the attack in the bottom of the second inning, and the game was delayed by 2 hours and 40 minutes as the area of the outfield warning track was not drained. It was a tough environment for outfielders.
“When I ran, the water dried up, so it was okay. It wasn’t slippery, but when I ran around, the water came up from under the grass,” he said, explaining the ground situation.
The scene in the fifth inning was also related to the grass. “The grass was slippery. When I was diving, it passed a little faster than I thought, so I felt like I passed the ball,” he continued.
Pittsburgh was not satisfied with its defense in the top of the fifth inning. The first batter, Jackson Merrill, was able to catch a ball by first baseman Laudy Tellez, but fell backward after hitting the glove, resulting in a double. David Peralta’s slow ball also escaped both the second and shortstop. Wade also missed Bae’s glove.
“It was a desperate inning,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Raudi seemed to have thought that his first hit would be stronger. Peralta’s ball was missed by Tri (second baseman Jared Triolo) by a hair’s breadth. It would have been wonderful if Bae had caught him. Even though the three balls were not hit so hard, they continued to lead to hits, resulting in snowballing damage.”
As Bae Ji-hwan said earlier, the hit as the leadoff hitter in the third inning was a good hit with a batting speed of 101.5 miles, an angle of 29 degrees, and an expected batting average of 0.670 but was caught by the defense of the opposing center fielder Merrill.토토사이트
It was such a good hit that Shelton said, “I thought I went over.”
Bae Ji-hwan, who had a good hit once again following a direct double to the fence in the final home series against Arizona, said, “I have a good feeling of hitting, but I’m frustrated that this doesn’t come out as a result,” and went home after saying about his real disappointment.