'Missed defense, redeemed with a hit': Song Sung-moon, called in as a substitute, records consecutive hits in Game 2... Team races for co-leadership in the NL West [SD Review]

*This content was translated by AI.

Song Sung-moon (30, San Diego Padres) made up for his defensive shortcomings at the plate.

On the 17th (Korea time), playing an away game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington, USA, Song was called in as a substitute in the 7th inning and recorded one hit in one at-bat.

He had been named in the starting lineup for the Seattle game on the 16th, recording one hit in four at-bats, and finally hit a hit after ten days. He then recorded consecutive hits in two games.

His season batting average rose from 0.176 to 0.222 (18 at-bats, 4 hits). His on-base percentage and slugging percentage also improved from 0.300 and 0.235 to 0.333 and 0.278, respectively.

Unlike the previous day, he started the game from the bench, but seized the opportunity in the bottom of the 7th inning when his team led 7-2. He was inserted into the game as a substitute second baseman, replacing Nick Castellanos.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, there was a disappointing play. With no outs and runners on second and third, he failed to field a hard-hit ball from Arosaleta in one motion. The ball was hit at 102.3 mph (164.6 km/h), so it was not an easy catch, and thus was recorded as an infield hit rather than an error. However, he was able to record an out by retiring the batter-runner, leaving some lingering disappointment.

In the subsequent at-bat of Cole Young, he fielded a ground ball from Zander Bogaerts to record an out, and then redeemed himself in the top of the 9th inning at the plate.

With Miguel Andujar failing to steal second base and the runner out, Song stepped up to the plate with one out. Facing Dominguez Gonzalez, he hit a slider at 84.3 mph (135.7 km/h) with a 2-1 count, sending a hit that dropped in front of the right fielder.

It was disappointing that Rodolfo Duran's home-run-like hit in the third out did not result in a run due to a great defensive play by the opposing center fielder.

San Diego defeated Seattle 7-4, improving their record to 27 wins and 18 losses. With a two-game winning streak, San Diego is now 0.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (28 wins, 18 losses) and has maintained second place in the National League West Division.

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*This content was translated by AI.