Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bae Ji-hwan played a big role in the series sweep.
Bae went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs in his sixth career start in center field against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His batting average is now .274 on the season.
The team went 2-1 and swept the three-game series. It is the fourth sweep of the season and the first against St. Louis at home since April 2018. The Reds have won 27 of 31. St. Louis is 25 for 35.
He did something big in his first at-bat in the first inning. With two outs, he hit a single up the middle against starter Miles Mikolas to bring in two runners.
With a 2-1 count in his favor, hit a four-pitch 92.5 mph fastball that came in toward his body for a single to center field. First hit with the bases loaded since his big league debut.
After leading off with a single, he advanced to second on a stolen base that completely took away the opponent’s timing. He didn’t even have to slide. Unfortunately, he couldn’t capitalize on the second and third base opportunities and was stranded.
In the fifth inning, he led off with a single. With two outs, I hit a single up the middle against the same pitcher to put runners on second and third. This time, he was able to steal second, but was stranded again.
Pittsburgh didn’t score easily after Bae’s RBI double 메이저사이트. The Pirates had runners in scoring position in every inning against Nichols, but were unable to capitalize.
The right-hander struggled through five innings, striking out 10 batters while walking just two.
Pittsburgh held on with strength on the mound. Starter Rich Hill pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits, one homer, three walks and six strikeouts. He allowed a leadoff hitter in each inning from the first through the fourth, but stranded them all. He retired 11 consecutive batters, starting with Luke Baker with the bases loaded in the fourth inning and ending with two outs in the seventh.
He pitched his first seven innings of the season, but gave up a home run to Andrew Kidner over the left field fence, followed by a single to Tommy Edmon.
Dauri Moretta, who came on in relief with two outs, struck out Paul Goldschmidt on a wild pitch to end the inning. Yohan Ramirez pitched the eighth and David Bednar pitched the ninth for the third straight game. Ramirez struck out the side in order and Bednar gave up a single, but was able to close out the game.