Song Seong-mun Goes Hitless, Commits First MLB Defensive Error

Song Seong-mun of the San Diego Padres returned to the starting lineup after eight games, but went hitless and committed his first error since his big league debut, leaving a disappointing performance.

Playing as the starting 9th batter and third baseman in an away game against the New York Mets for the 2026 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season at Citi Field in New York today (August 20), Song recorded no hits in three at-bats with one strikeout.

Slumped with no hits in six consecutive games, Song's season batting average dropped from 0.207 to 0.202 (23 hits in 114 at-bats).

In his first at-bat with one out and runners on first and second in the top of the 2nd inning, Song was retired on a right fielder fly ball, failing to capitalize on the opportunity to score the opening run.

Trailing 0-2 in the top of the 5th with a runner on second and no outs, he hit a shortstop fly ball, and in the top of the 7th with one out, he went down swinging on a strikeout.

Particularly in defense during the bottom of the 8th while trailing 1-2, he committed his first error since his major league debut.

Having shifted to shortstop ahead of the bottom of the 7th inning defense, Song fielded a ground ball hit by Bo Bichette with one out and runners on first and third in the bottom of the 8th, trailing 1-2, but threw a wild throw.

During this play, the runner on third crossed home plate, making the score 1-3.

Before his fourth plate appearance with one out and runners on first and third in the top of the 9th, he was substituted for pinch hitter Austin Hays, finishing the game.

San Diego lost 2-4.

With 68 wins and 60 losses and a winning percentage of 0.531, they maintained second place in the National League (NL) West Division.

Kim Ha-seong of the Atlanta Braves, who is experiencing a batting slump, remained on the bench during the game against the Minnesota Twins held at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, missing his fourth consecutive game.

Atlanta lost 4-6, suffering a sweep in their three-game series against Minnesota.

They maintained the lead in the NL East Division with 74 wins and 53 losses and a winning percentage of 0.583.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.