Padres' Kim Ha-seong homers off Dodgers ace Yamamoto; Giants' Lee Jung-hoo steals 1st bag in MLB
SEOUL, April 13 (Yonhap) -- Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres has homered off the highest-paid pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB).
Kim hit a solo homer off Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers to lead off the top of the second inning at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday (local time), giving the Padres a 3-1 lead. The Padres took the game 8-7 in 11 innings.
Kim drilled Yamamoto's first pitch, a 95.1 miles per hour (mph) fastball over the heart of the plate, and sent it 396 feet into the seats in left field. The ball went off Kim's bat at 104.7 mph.
It was Kim's second home run of this season and his second RBI against Yamamoto, who signed a 12-year, US$325 million contract in December to join the Dodgers after dominating in his native Japan.
Kim previously hit a sacrifice fly against Yamamoto during the two clubs' season-opening Seoul Series on March 21.
It was Kim's only hit in five at-bats. Batting sixth, Kim popped out to first in the fourth, popped out to short in the sixth and struck out looking in the eighth. He led off the top 11th against Alex Vesia and struck out swinging with the runner at second base.
For the season, Kim is batting .217/.284/.417 with a couple of home runs and eight RBIs in 16 games.
Also on Friday, Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants stole his first bag in MLB while extending his hitting streak to four games.
The South Korean rookie swiped second base during the top of the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Lee scored the team's only run in their 2-1 loss.
With the Giants trailing 1-0, Lee led off the top third with a single to left. He then stole second base and advanced to third when a throw by catcher Ben Rortvedt sailed into the center field.
From there, Lee scored the tying run on a wild pitch by pitcher Jacob Waguespack with Jorge Soler at the plate.
The Rays scored their go-ahead run in the bottom third and hung on for the one-run victory.
Lee only had that third-inning single in five trips to the plate. He lined out to lead off the game in the top first, grounded into a 5-6-3 double play in the fifth, struck out in the seventh and lined out to left in the top ninth.
Lee is batting .250/.305/.327 with a home run, four RBIs and five walks in 13 games.
jeeho@yna.co.kr
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