‘Starter’ Choi Ji-Man is hot, hitting in 8 of 9 games…’trademark’ leg-splitting defense + 1 RBI.
With Carlos Santana out of the picture, Choi Ji-Man (Pittsburgh Pirates) showed off his hot bat. However, it wasn’t enough to prevent the team from losing.
Choi started at first base and batted fourth in the lineup against the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Sept. 29 (ET), going 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. His season batting average of .188 rose to .191.
After being sidelined with an Achilles’ tendon injury earlier in the season, Choi showed off his batting prowess in the big leagues, firing up the home run machine on a regular basis. He hit in all eight games he started, including his first game back from injury, but there was something else that was holding him back. It was the platoon system.
Due to the presence of Carlos Santana at first base, Choi was often left out of the starting lineup despite his good performance, especially as a pinch hitter. However, Pittsburgh’s trade of Santana the day before (on the 28th) cleared the way for Choi to break out.
Choi continued his hot hitting on the 29th. In his first at-bat to lead off the bottom of the second inning with the score tied at 0-0, Choi lined a 92.2 mph (148.4 km/h) slider up and away from the body of Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler and into the left-field bleachers. His second at-bat was a different story.
With runners on first and second in scoring position in the bottom of the fourth inning after a Brian Reynolds single and an Andrew McCutchen walk, Choi faced Wheeler again, this time on a slider. Choi was able to get a good pull on Wheeler’s slider as it dug into his body, and he crushed a chasing double to right field.
If there was a downside to Choi’s at-bat, it was that McCutchen, who was on first base, didn’t make it home. McCutchin, who was on first base, tried to sprint home around the third base line, but he didn’t try hard enough. It rolled into a snowball. With runners on second and third off Choi’s single, Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez both went silent, and Pittsburgh had to settle for a single run.
There was some good defense, too. In the top of the sixth inning, with one out, Philadelphia’s Trey Turner hit a grounder to shortstop, second baseman, and first baseman. The umpire’s initial call was safe, but after video review, the call was overturned and Turner’s hit was a double.온라인카지노
It was a stellar defense, but it didn’t translate into a good hit. In his third at-bat in the bottom of the seventh, Choi swung and missed at a low curveball out of the strike zone after a five-pitch battle with Wheeler, and in his final at-bat in the ninth, he flied out to left field to end the game.
The good momentum from the previous day’s win over the San Diego Padres didn’t carry over.