강정호, 신시내티전서 MLB 데뷔 첫 만루홈런 Kang's grand slam powers Pirates to 5-4 win over Reds(VIDEO)
Joe Robbins / Getty Images
Jung Ho Kang is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after hitting a grand slam home run in the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds.
source post-gazette.com
강정호(28·피츠버그 파이리츠)가 10일(한국시간) 미국 오하이오주 신시내티의 그레이트아메리칸
볼파크에서 열린 메이저리그 신시내티 레즈와의 방문경기에 5번 타자 3루수로 선발 출전해 1-1로
맞선 6회초 1사 만루, 신시내티 오른손 선발 케비어스 샘슨의 시속 150㎞짜리 직구를 받아쳐 왼쪽
담을 넘어가는 만루홈런을 쳤다.
edited by kcontents
케이콘텐츠 편집
By Stephen J. Nesbitt / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
CINCINNATI — Tucker Barnhart, the Cincinnati Reds rookie catcher, shot up from his crouch and watched Jung Ho Kang’s sixth-inning line drive climb into the night. Then, Barnhart turned his head away and punched his right leg in disgust.
With a mighty uppercut, Kang had crushed Keyvius Sampson’s 2-2 fastball over the left-field wall at Great American Ball Park for his first career grand slam, the decisive blow in a 5-4 Pirates win Wednesday. It was Kang’s 15th home run this season, and his second in as many nights.
“Ultimately, I think I got lucky with that swing,” Kang said later, via interpreter HK Kim.
Manager Clint Hurdle smiled and said, “You’re looking for something good to happen there, but a grand slam wasn’t on my mind. I didn’t have that.”
Perhaps that’s because the Pirates had not hit a slam since Ike Davis hit one April 24, 2014, against the Reds. Kang’s clout provided enough cushion to give left-hander J.A. Happ (5-1) his fifth win in a row. He allowed two runs on three hits and struck out 10 over six-plus innings.
The Pirates (83-55) took two of three games from the last-place Reds (57-81), winning their first series in Cincinnati since a season-ending sweep in 2013 that set up a Pirates-Reds rematch two days later in the National League wild-card game, a contest the Pirates won, 6-2.
The Pirates remain 4½ games behind the Central Division-leading St. Louis Cardinals.
Left-hander Tony Watson threw 37 pitches in a rocky eighth, giving up three hits, two walks and two runs, yet emerged with a one-run lead. Closer Mark Melancon earned his 44th save this season, second-most in Pirates history.
“This team has shown some resiliency, character, backbone and grit,” Hurdle said. “Everybody out there knows what we’re playing for.”
Brought in at the trade deadline to fill in for injured right-hander A.J. Burnett, who returns tonight, Happ has posted a 1.78 ERA in seven starts since his Pirates debut Aug. 4. He entered the game trailing only Clayton Kershaw (1.53) and Jake Arrieta (0.36) in that stretch.
Happ’s 10 strikeouts were tied for second-most in his career. Six came on called third strikes.
“He’s been on a nice run,” Hurdle said with typical understatement before the game.
In his previous four starts, he allowed two earned runs over 30 innings, among the best stretches in his nine-year major league career.
After the Pirates jumped to a 1-0 lead on Andrew McCutchen’s first-inning sacrifice fly, reigning Home Run Derby king Todd Frazier took Happ deep to tie the score in the second. It was just the second homer off Happ since he joined the Pirates, but the 31st this season for Frazier — and his sixth against the Pirates.
Sampson (2-4), the third Reds rookie right-hander to start against the Pirates this series, built a strong start before Kang brought it crashing down.
He gave up two hits in the first five innings, but left having allowed five hits and five runs in 5⅓ innings. Sampson had not pitched more than four innings in any of his previous four starts.
The score still was deadlocked as the Pirates set the table in the sixth. Gregory Polanco, who had two hits and scored twice, led off with a single and stole second. McCutchen walked, and newly minted first baseman Aramis Ramirez singled to left.
Kang saw five fastballs in a row and blistered the fifth. The final four-seamer missed its spot, with Barnhart set up low and in.
It wound up clattering off empty seats beyond the left-field wall.
“We were waiting for a big hit,” Happ said. “Everybody was into that moment, that at-bat.
“Off the bat, a lot of guys knew he’d put the right swing on it. It was nice to see that ball land in the stands.”
As Kang rounded the bases, his teammates roared. The Pirates danced and high-fived Kang when he descended into the dugout, and Starling Marte ruffled the 28-year-old rookie’s hair.
“I don’t know why he did it,” Kang said, via Kim. “He’s just a crazy kid.”
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