By Oh Sang-jin Reporter= Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bae Ji-hwan (24) has been silent for four games in a row. The team fell into a nine-game losing streak.
Bae went hitless in four at-bats while batting first and second against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Feb. 22 (KST). His season batting average dropped from .259 to .254.
The Pittsburgh offense was held to just two hits off Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks. Only two players, Conor Jo and Josh Palacios, had more than one hit.
In the bottom of the first inning, Bae worked a full count, but he hit a seven-pitch changeup and retired on an infield grounder to shortstop.메이저사이트
In the third and sixth innings, Bae grounded out to second base. Trailing 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh with runners on first and third, Bae grounded out to second on a low cutter from reliever Mark Reiter Jr. With four grounders in four at-bats, Bae was eventually pulled in favor of a pinch-hitter in the top of the eighth to end the game.
Pittsburgh dropped its ninth straight game with the 3-8 loss to the Cubs (34-39). Meanwhile, the Cubs, who have won three straight, remain in third place in the National League Central (36-38) and trail the first-place Cincinnati Reds (40-35) by 3.5 games after winning 11 straight.