For the San Diego Padres, it’s been a bumpy ride. The Padres lost key infielder Ha-Sung Kim, 28, to injury.
Kim was batting seventh and playing third base against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., on Saturday (June 26) when he was hit by a foul ball on the inside of his left knee in his first at-bat. The exact extent of the injury is unknown. San Diego pulled off a dramatic 8-6 comeback win.
Kim was San Diego manager Bob Melvin’s go-to infielder for defense. When he signed shortstop Xander Bogaerts as a free agent, he gave him the starting second base job, and when he recently lost starting third baseman Manny Machado to a fractured left palm, he went straight to third base. Kim has proven to be a reliable defender in that crucial infield spot. If Machado, who has now started working on his defense, returns from the disabled list soon, Kim could move back to second base, giving the team a solid infield again.
The dire situation came in the top of the second inning, when the score was 0-1. Kim stepped up to the plate two batters later, and a foul pitch hit the inside of his left knee. As soon as he was hit, he fell to the ground and was in excruciating pain. It was so severe that he had difficulty standing up.
The U.S. broadcasters were stunned when Kim was hit by the foul ball: “He looks like he’s in pain. Ao ao, it’s the inside of his left knee. The trainers are checking it out and he’s walking off with help,” Kim said, sighing with concern as he described the situation.
Major League Baseball’s website, MLB.com, reported that Kim was hit on the inside of his left knee by a foul ball. He fell to the ground in excruciating pain and had to be helped off the field by two trainers. The club reported that the exact extent of the injury was not described, and there has been no update since.
San Diego seemed unfazed by Kim’s departure. Kim’s replacement, Brandon Dixon, singled and Trent Grisham followed with a two-run double to make it 2-1. In the top of the fifth, Bogaerts singled and scored on Lugned O’Dowd’s RBI double to make it 5-1.
But with two key infielders missing in Machado and Kim Ha-Sung, a defensive collapse quickly put the game out of reach for the Nats. In the bottom of the seventh inning, they gave up five runs on seven hits to fall behind 5-6. None of the hits were recorded as errors, but third baseman O’Doherty and second baseman Jake Cronenwirth were unable to handle tricky pitches, leading to back-to-back walks. Even pitcher Nick Martinez was a total disaster, committing a bad throw to first base while fielding a bunt.
In San Diego’s final offensive opportunity in the top of the ninth, back-to-back singles by Kronenwirth and Juan Soto put runners on first and second with no outs. It looked like the inning would end with no outs, but two batters later, O’Dowd hit a three-run homer to make it an 8-6 game 메이저사이트.