By Sang-jin Oh= He hit well, ran well, picked off well, and caught well. Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bae Ji-hwan (24) contributed to his team’s victory with his all-around performance at the plate, on the bases, and on defense.

Bae started in center field and went 1-for-3 with a double, two runs scored, a walk and a stolen base in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2023 Major League Baseball home game against the Washington Nationals at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Thursday. He drew full counts in all four of his at-bats, drawing a whopping 29 pitches, and used his signature footwork to steal his 23rd base of the season.

In the bottom of the first inning, Bae led off with a walk and battled Washington starter Jackson Rutledge for seven pitches. With a 3-2 full count, Bae lined a seven-pitch changeup up the middle. With a hit in his first at-bat, Bae extended his hitting streak to eight games, dating back to June 6 against the Milwaukee Brewers. After advancing to second on a Brian Reynolds single, Bae scored the go-ahead run on a Keeb Bryan Hayes double.

In the bottom of the second, Bae led off again, this time with a full count of seven pitches. Bae hit a changeup on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, but it was unfortunately hit into the right field seats.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, with the bases loaded and one out, Bae came up to bat for the third time and once again troubled Rutledge. On a 2-2 pitch count, he drew two consecutive walks to force Rutledge to throw six pitches. After forcing the pitcher to throw a whopping 20 pitches in three at-bats, Bae continued to torment Rutledge by stealing second. After advancing to third on an error, Bae scored his second run of the day on Reynolds’ two-run homer.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Bae stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs, but he also played some snowballs against Washington bullpen arm Joe Lasosa. With a full count and three foul balls in play, Bae battled through nine pitches before fouling off a slider for a foul tip.

In addition to his eye and foot baseball, Bae also showed off his defense in the seventh inning. With two outs in the top of the seventh, Washington’s CJ Abrams hit a line drive to right-center field. As he chased the ball, right fielder Joshua Palacios made a sliding catch that could have been dangerous, but Bae calmly caught the falling ball and made the catch without colliding.메이저사이트

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh, which led 7-1 after four innings, gave up one run in the fifth and three in the sixth to fall to 7-5. In the top of the ninth, Pittsburgh closer David Bednar gave up a walk, a hit, and a hit batter to cut the deficit to 7-6. With runners on first and second, Bednar got the first out on a grounder and then walked again to load the bases. But Bednar struck out Abrams, and the next batter, Lane Thomas, flied out to center field to preserve the win. Pittsburgh took the best-of-three series against Washington with two straight wins after losing one.