Pirates' Kang hits 20th home run

Pittsburgh Pirates’ Kang Jung-ho crosses home plate in front of Washington Nationals catcher Jose Lobaton after hitting a two-run home run off Nationals pitcher Koda Glover during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Sunday. / AP-Yonhap

Kang becomes 1st Asian midfielder to achieve MLB feat

By Baek Byung-yeul

Pittsburgh Pirates’ Korean infielder Kang Jung-ho hit his 20th home run of this season, Sunday, becoming the first Major League Baseball (MLB) Asian infielder to accomplish this feat.

At PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Kang batted fourth and played third baseman in his team’s game against the Washington Nationals. The 20th home run came in the bottom of the seventh inning as Kang hit a two-run shot off Koda Glover to break a 5-5 tie. Though Kang went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, his team took its 78th loss as they allowed a five-run inning in the eighth, going on to lose 7-10.

The home run came nine days after he hit a two-run homer against the Cincinnati Reds on Sept. 16. With the long ball, Kang became the first infielder from Asia to hit at least 20 home runs in a single season. Among Korean major leaguers, Kang is the second to reach the feat following Texas Rangers outfielder Choo Shin-soo who has done that four times ― in 2009 and 2010 with the Cleveland Indians, in 2013 with the Reds and last season with the Rangers. Former New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui holds the record of the most home runs in a single season by an Asian player, having hit 31 homers in 2004 season.

Kang has played 97 games this season, as he didn’t play until early May while recovering from a leg injury sustained in mid-September of last season. He has a batting average of .266 with 79 hits and 59 RBIs.

On the same day, the Baltimore Orioles’ Korean outfielder Kim Hyun-soo also collected his fifth home run of the season.

At Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Kim batted seventh and played leftfielder during his team’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He hit a two-run shot off Braden Shipley in the bottom second to make a 2-0 lead.

The home run was enough for the Orioles to take the game as they only allowed one run in the remaining innings for a 2-1 victory. With the win, the Orioles stand at 85 wins and 71 losses to take a firm hold on the second wild card spot in the American League. Currently, the Toronto Blue Jays have topped the wild card standings. The top two teams will play each other in a one-game playoff for the last spot of the Division Series.

Kim, who’s in his major league debut season after spending 10 seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), has a batting average of .302 with 88 hits and 19 RBIs.

Lee Dae-ho of the Seattle Mariners also started the game against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field in Minnesota but had a hitless game after going 0-for-4. The Mariners won 4-3.