Kim Ha-seong goes deep twice in emphatic homecoming as Padres beat LG Twins 5-4

Baseball

Published: 18 Mar. 2024, 14:51 Updated: 18 Mar. 2024, 17:57

Kim Ha-seong goes deep twice in emphatic homecoming as Padres beat LG Twins 5-4

Kim Ha-seong rounds the bases after hitting a two-run homer against the LG Twins at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Monday. [NEWS1]

As homecomings go, Kim Ha-seong can’t have imagined it going much better than this. The San Diego Padres infielder smashed a pair of two-run homers over the outfield wall of the ballpark he used to call home as the MLB club beat the reigning KBO champion LG Twins 5-4 on Monday.

Kim brought home Manny Machado with a long ball in the second inning at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, the stadium that he spent the last five years of his KBO career in with the Kiwoom Heroes. He then repeated the feat, again with Machado on base, in the sixth.

Kim’s tour de force came in the Padres’ second exhibition game in Seoul, the San Diego club having earlier edged out the Korean national team 1-0 in a pitchers’ duel at Gocheok on Sunday evening.

While the Padres walked away with the win again on Monday, the Twins put up a good fight. Starter Im Chan-kyu fanned all three hitters to lead off the first inning, and reigning Korean Series MVP Oh Ji-hwan put one over the wall immediately after Kim in the second to cut the lead to 2-1.

The LG Twins' Im Chan-kyu in action during an exhibition game against the San Diego Padres at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Monday. [NEWS1]

The Twins responded immediately in the sixth as well, Shin Min-jae scoring on a sacrifice after stealing his way from first to third on a Kyle Higashioka throwing error.

That put the score at 4-2, with Jackson Merrill scoring on a Fernando Tatis Jr. single at the top of the seventh to make it 5-2.

With a comfortable lead in the ninth, the Padres also brought out recent signee Go Woo-suk to close out the game against his former team.

San Diego Padres' Go Woo-suk pitches during the ninth inning of an exhibition game against the LG Twins at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Monday. [NEWS1]

Go joined the Padres on a two-year deal in January, but has so far struggled to do enough in spring training to guarantee a position in the squad when the season proper starts. He had a 12.46 ERA in four and a third innings of work going into Monday’s game and gave up a hit on his second pitch at Gocheok Sky Dome.

Despite the change in jersey color, Go received a warm welcome from his former club, his old supporting chant making a comeback followed by the Twins’ fight song. Go was the Twins’ final pitcher on the mound during Game 5 of last year’s historic Korean Series.

The warm welcome from the Twins turned out to be deserved — Go gave up a two-run homer to Lee Jae-won to bring the Twins right back into the game, cutting the Padres lead to just one run at the bottom of the ninth.

The Padres rallied to hold on to the win, a line out ending the inning and getting Go out of the jam for a narrow 5-4 win in Seoul. Starting pitcher Dylan Cease, who joined the club just days ago, took the W, with LG’s Im taking the loss.

"Hitting home runs always feels great, no matter where you hit them," Kim said in a postgame press conference. "I think I got lucky. I am thankful to be playing in Korea in the Padres uniform."

"I kind of had an idea on what kind of pitches they could throw. I was able to put a good swing on those pitches. I hope I can maintain this form throughout the regular season."

Monday’s game was a far quieter affair than the two exhibition games on Sunday. While the organizers had pulled out all the KBO-style stops — cheerleaders, loud music, constant chanting and cheering — the weekday midday start meaning the stadium was well below capacity with entire sections empty on the upper deck and in the outfield.

The Padres will return to Gocheok Sky Dome on Wednesday for Game 1 of the Seoul Series, the official opener of the 2024 MLB season between the Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. Game 2 will follow on Thursday.

Before the official big league schedule begins, the Dodgers are scheduled to return to the field on Monday afternoon as of press time, when they will take on the Korean national team in their second exhibition game. The Dodgers earlier beat the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes 14-3 on Sunday.

Both games of the Korean Series will start just after 7 p.m., Korean time.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]