'5 innings BBBBB' Doosan foreign LAD debut, Kim Hye-sung's defense saved... 1 for 5 at the plate

*This content was translated by AI.

Kim Hye-sung (27, Oklahoma Comets), who started the season in the minor league, showed good defense and disappointing batting. Cole Irvin, who played his first official game in the LA Dodgers uniform, lasted up to five innings with the help of defense despite his poor control.

Kim Hye-sung started the 2026 U.S. minor league Albuquerque Isotops (Colorado Rockies Triple-A) at Chicaso Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City on the 28th (Korea Standard Time) as the first and second basemen and scored one hit, one strikeout and one point in five at-bats.

Oklahoma City suffered a five-hitter and lost to Albuquerque 1-3. Cole Irvin, who played for the Doosan Bears last year, became a losing pitcher with six hits, five walks, three strikeouts and three runs in five innings as a starting pitcher for Oklahoma City.

Kim started the season in the minor league despite an exhibition game batting average of .407. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he hoped to play in more games, recalling Kim Hye-sung's detailed performance with one walk and eight strikeouts.

Kim Hye-sung reported a hit from his first at-bat. He was the first batter in the bottom of the first inning and hit right-hander Tanner Gordon's three-pitch curve to make a hit to the right. He stepped on second base when Gordon made a check error and homered when Jack Earhard hit to the right. It was a pity that he couldn't report a hit afterwards. In the bottom of the third inning, he was withdrawn with a straight hit to left field, and in the bottom of the fifth inning, he was struck out by a rookie. In the bottom of the seventh inning, he hit a high ball on his body and retired with a fly ball to right field, leaving a regret.

The batter who finished the game on the day was Kim Hye-sung. He entered the batter's box with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning when Oklahoma was losing 1-3 and sent Seth Halverson's 98.4-mph fastball to the center of the outfield. However, he was sucked into the center fielder's glove and only hit four times in a row.

It was a game in which KBO players were sluggish. Starting in Oklahoma, Irvin had the worst control and ruined the first game. Irvin got a left-handed hit by Bimael Machin in the top of the second inning with Oklahoma leading 1-0, and walked Chad Stevenson with four consecutive balls after two strikes. Nikki Lopez and Jose Cordova allowed a 1-1 tie with an infield single by Drew Evans, though they turned it into a fly ball and groundout.

Subsequently, even Cole Carrig hit a large triple to center field, increasing Irvin's run to three points, with two home runners. Kim Hye-sung helped Irvin finish the inning by handling Adele Amador's ball.

Irvin tried to use the left and right sides of the strike zone, but it was not easy. In the top of the third inning, he walked straight to Sterlin Thompson and also walked to Machin. Fortunately, Stevenson's ball headed shallow toward third base and was treated as a double play to end the inning.

With the help of defense, it became more frequent to block innings. He also gave Lopez a walk in the top of the fourth inning, but managed to survive as Kim Hye-sung doubled Córdoba's ball. Irvin finished the inning by hitting a fly ball to center field to Evans. In the fifth inning, Carrieg was hit to the left, Amador walked to Amador, and Gordon hit to the left, putting him on the verge of losing a point. However, the catcher blocked Carrieg's steal to second base, struck out Thompson and grounded out to first base, making a miraculous score.

However, Irvin became a losing pitcher as Oklahoma's batters failed to score points from the second to the ninth innings.

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*This content was translated by AI.