Padres' Kim Ha-seong has mixed day in win; Giants' Lee Jung-hoo gets 1st day off
San Diego Padres' Kim Ha-seong follows through on a triple against the Chicago Cubs during the fourth inning of a baseball game, in San Diego, April 10. AP-Yonhap
Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres had a roller-coaster day as his team routed the Chicago Cubs 10-2 at home.
Kim had two hits and scored two runs at Petco Park in San Diego on Wednesday (local time) but also committed his third error of the season at shortstop.
Batting sixth, Kim stepped in with one out in the second inning, after Jurickson Profar hit a single off starter Kyle Hendricks. Kim followed up with an infield single and moved to second when Luis Campusano singled to left to cash in Profar for a 1-0 San Diego lead.
Kim then swiped third base for his fourth steal of the season and scored on a groundout by Jackson Merrill to make it 2-0 for the Padres.
However, Kim's fielding error in the top of the fourth allowed the Cubs to tie the score at 2-2.
With two outs, Christopher Morel hit a grounder right at Kim, who had the ball ricochet off the heel of his glove and drop between his legs. Kim couldn't locate the ball, and Morel reached first without a throw.
The next batter, Michael Busch, belted a two-run homer off starter Dylan Cease to pull the Cubs level.
It was Kim's third error of this year. He made only seven errors in all of last year, when he won the National League Gold Glove at the utility spot.
But Kim atoned for his miscue in the bottom of the fourth.
Profar first put the Padres back on top 3-2 with an RBI double, though he was thrown out at third trying to stretch it to a triple. Kim then hit a triple to right-center field, his second three-bagger in three days and then scored to make it 4-2 Padres when Campusano grounded out to shortstop Dansby Swanson.
Kim struck out swinging against new pitcher Daniel Palencia in the sixth, after Profar had knocked Hendricks out of the game with a two-run home run. With Palencia still pitching in the seventh, Kim popped out to second baseman Miles Mastrobuoni.
Kim is batting .218/.290/.382 in 15 games this year.
Elsewhere in the majors Wednesday, the San Francisco Giants' Korean rookie Lee Jung-hoo had his first day off of the season.
Lee had played in each of the Giants' first 12 games this year before sitting out their 7-1 win over the Washington Nationals at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
Lee has a .255 batting average with a homer, four RBIs and four runs scored. (Yonhap)