Los Angeles Dodgers' Kim Hye-seong (26) was halted after striking out three times against a single pitcher.
On the 9th (Korean time), Kim Hye-seong started as the 8th batter and second baseman in an away game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, where he went 0 for 4 with three Samjin.
Although Kim Hye-seong recorded hits in all three games against the Miami Marlins from the 6th to the 8th, he went silent with his first hitless game on this day. Kim Hye-seong's season batting average dropped from .417 to .313 (5 hits in 16 at-bats), and his OPS decreased from .833 to .626.
It was a game completely dominated by Arizona's starting pitcher, Brandon Pfaadt. The right-hander, who made his Major League debut in 2023, recorded 11 wins and 10 losses with a 4.71 ERA and 185 strikeouts over 32 games (181⅔ innings) last year. Before this game, he had performed well this year with 5 wins, 2 losses, a 3.79 ERA, and 35 strikeouts over 7 games (40⅓ innings).
On this day, Pfaadt pitched 6⅓ innings, allowing 4 hits, 3 walks, and striking out 6 without allowing any runs, achieving his 6th win of the season while lowering his ERA to 3.28.
Kim Hye-seong also struggled against Pfaadt. He struck out looking in his first at-bat in the second inning. With a 1-2 count, he froze on a sinker that came in low and inside at 94 mph (151.3 km/h).
In the fifth inning as the leadoff hitter, he was called out on a swinging strikeout. The first two pitches, a curve and a sweeper, barely missed the outside corner, but were ruled strikes. When the second pitch was called a strike, Kim Hye-seong tilted his head back slightly, showing his disappointment.
He might have been angry, but after looking at home plate umpire Brennan Miller, Kim Hye-seong smiled and called for a timeout, fouling off the third pitch which was a sinker. However, he swung and missed the fourth pitch, a changeup that dropped low and outside.
In his third at-bat in the seventh inning with no outs and a runner on first, he ended with another strikeout. After swinging and missing on the first low curve, he took a ball on the second pitch, which was a low changeup outside. However, he swung and missed on the third pitch, another low changeup outside, and went down swinging on the fourth pitch, a low curve inside. After striking out Kim Hye-seong, Pfaadt left the mound with 99 pitches.
In his last at-bat in the ninth inning, he was out on a line drive to right field. He connected well with the fifth pitch, a high slider that came in on his body from right-hander Kevin Ginkel, but it went straight to the right fielder. The ball had a speed of 105.2 mph (169.3 km/h) with a 54% hit probability, but he was unlucky.
Not only Kim Hye-seong, but the Dodgers' lineup was kept scoreless until the seventh inning, losing to Arizona 5-3. Shohei Ohtani hit a solo home run in the ninth inning to try to catch up, but it was not enough to change the outcome. Ohtani hit the high four-seam fastball from Ginkel’s seventh pitch over the center field fence, recording his 11th home run of the season, measured at 112.9 mph (181.7 km/h) with an angle of 22 degrees and a distance of 426 feet (129.8 m).
The Dodgers mounted a late rally in the eighth inning. After singles from Mookie Betts and Will Smith put runners on first and second with one out, Max Muncy's one-out double bounced over the right-center wall for an RBI, and Andy Páez followed with a run-scoring hit to right field. However, Michael Conforto's grounder to second turned into a 4-6-3 double play, cutting off the momentum.
Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed 6 hits (2 home runs), 1 walk, and 1 hit batter, striking out 4 while yielding 5 runs over 5 innings, resulting in his 3rd loss of the season (4 wins). He had allowed no runs through 44 pitches until the third inning, but in the fourth, he allowed a walk, a hit, and a hit by pitch, followed by a grand slam home run. Gabriel Moreno, who had not hit a home run this season, took Yamamoto's third pitch cutter over the right-center fence. This was Yamamoto's first grand slam allowed in his Major League debut.
Yamamoto also surrendered a season-first solo home run to Ketel Marte in the fifth inning, collapsing with a season-high 5 runs allowed. Previously, he had been dominant this season, giving up only 7 runs (4 earned) in 40 innings over 7 games, but he allowed 5 earned runs in this outing. His season ERA jumped from 0.90 to 1.80.
The National League (NL) West Division-leading Dodgers dropped to 25 wins and 13 losses (.658 winning percentage) with this defeat, allowing a 1-game gap to the 2nd and 3rd place San Diego Padres (23 wins and 13 losses, .639) and San Francisco Giants (24 wins and 14 losses, .632). The 4th place Arizona Diamondbacks improved to 20 wins and 18 losses (.526).
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