Cardinals' Kim Kwang-hyun gives up go-ahead homer, suffers 2nd straight loss

유지호 / 2021-05-25 13:23:50

MLB-pitcher

▲ In this Getty Images photo, Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches against the Chicago White Sox in the bottom of the first inning of a Major League Baseball regular season game at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago on May 24, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ In this USA Today Sports photo via Reuters, Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches against the Chicago White Sox in the bottom of the first inning of a Major League Baseball regular season game at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago on May 24, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ In this Associated Press photo, St. Louis Cardinals' starter Kim Kwang-hyun (L) hands the ball over to his manager Mike Shildt for a pitching change during the bottom of the sixth inning of a Major League Baseball regular season game against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago on May 24, 2021. (Yonhap)

MLB-pitcher

Cardinals' Kim Kwang-hyun gives up go-ahead homer, suffers 2nd straight loss

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- Undone by a long ball, St. Louis Cardinals' Kim Kwang-hyun has suffered his second consecutive loss.

The South Korean left-hander was the losing pitcher in the Cardinals' 5-1 defeat to the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago on Monday (local time).

Kim was charged with three earned runs in 5 2/3 innings on five hits and three walks. He struck out five while throwing a season-high 104 pitches.

Kim was pulled with two outs in the sixth inning, after serving up a two-run home run to Andrew Vaughn and then walking Leury Garcia. Reliever Daniel Ponce de Leon allowed that inherited runner to score on a double by Tim Anderson.

Kim fell to 1-2, while his ERA rose from 2.73 to 3.09 in 32 innings.

Kim allowed a base runner in every inning but the first.

He gave up two hits in the second inning but also got two strikeouts. Nick Madrigal led off the third with a double off Kim, who retired the next three batters to strand the runner at second.

Kim got help from his defense to wrap up that inning, as center fielder Dylan Carlson made a diving grab to rob Yoan Moncada of an RBI hit.

Kim walked two batters in the fourth but escaped the jam by striking out Garcia. A one-out error had a man at first for the White Sox in the fifth, but nothing came out of it.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals didn't get a hit off White Sox starter Lance Lynn through five innings, before Paul Goldschmidt delivered an RBI single in the top of the sixth for a 1-0 lead.

Kim couldn't let the slim advantage stand in the bottom of the inning, though. With a man on at two outs, Vaughn drilled a 2-0 changeup for a go-ahead two-run homer to left field.

It was the first home run that Kim allowed in 23 innings and only the second dinger off the lefty this season.

The Cardinals let Kim face Garcia, hoping the left-hander could close out the inning there, but Kim ended up walking the batter instead.

Ponce de Leon hit Madrigal to extend the inning even further, and Anderson made him pay with a two-run double to right field that put the White Sox ahead 4-1.

A sacrifice fly by Yermin Mercedes in the seventh rounded out the scoring for the White Sox.

Kim hasn't been able to pitch deep into games this year because of shaky control. He has now walked 10 batters in his past four starts, a span of 18 1/3 innings. In his first three starts, covering 13 2/3 innings, Kim issued only one free pass.

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