Kang Jung-ho, Choo Shin-soo hit homers on same day

Kang Jung-ho (28) of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Choo Shin-soo (33) of the Texas Rangers hit homers and led their teams to victory. It is the first time ever that two Korean batters hit homers in the Major League on the same day.

Kang, who was in a minor slump recently, was the first of the two to hit a homer. In the game against the Cincinnati Reds at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati on Wednesday (Korea time), Kang had a long-range homer that fell to the second floor of spectators’ stand at the top of the eighth inning. It was his 14th in this season and the first in seven games after a game against the Milwaukee Brewers last Wednesday.

The first batter at the top of the eighth inning with his team leading 5-0, Kang swung a 123-km changeup off Cincinnati’s relief pitcher Collin Balester (29) to hit the homer. The official flying distance of the homer was recorded as 136.2 meters, but STACAST, the real-time data analysis service of the Major League’s official site MLB.com, measured it as 143.9 meters. In terms of official flying distance, it was his second biggest home run after the 137.1 meter homer that he garnered in an away game against the San Diego Padres on May 29. Newscaster Greg Brown of ROOT, the channel exclusively for the Pittsburgh, called it ‘tape measure’ meaning a huge homer.

After hitting four homers in the first half of the season, Kang has hit as many as 10 homers in the second. If this trend continues, he could potentially break the 18-homer record posted in a season among the Asian players in the Major League set by Jojima Kenji (39, Seattle at the time). He only has five homers to add in the remaining 25 games to reach the milestone.

Posting two hits, one RBI and two runs from five times at bat on the day, Kang had multi hits in his 34th consecutive game after the game against the St. Louis Cardinals last Saturday. His batting average also edged up to 0.288. He also displayed stronger performance in away games as well. In the recent 26 away games, he had 32 hits and posted a batting average of 0.323 from 99 times at bat.

Choo Shin-soo (33) also led his team 9-6 victory in an away game against the Seattle Mariners by hitting a 3-run homer and his 17th of this season on the day. He hit the home run in 10th game after posting a solo homer that tied the score in the game against Baltimore Orioles on August 29. Choo is displaying performance living up to his reputation as the best ‘table setter’ that he showcased while playing for Cincinnati in 2013.

Choo had one hit (one homer) and two walks from three times at bat on the day, and saw his batting average reach the season’s high (0.254). His walk to strikeout ratio, which only stood at 0.38 in the first half, almost doubled to 0.62. He continued on-base spree for five consecutive games in the second half of the season.

moonsy1028@gmail.com