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Pirates’ Kang homers to open Sept. in MLB

September 2, 2015

Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Kang Jung-ho (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

(Yonhap) — Kang Jung-ho of the Pittsburgh Pirates homered and doubled to start the final month of the regular season in Major League Baseball (MLB) on Tuesday.

Kang launched a solo shot for his 13th home run of his rookie season in the top ninth against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park, but the Buccos fell 7-4 for their second straight loss.

Kang hit a double in the fifth and had a 2-for-4 night at the dish with an RBI and two runs scored. He raised his batting average to .290.

Named the National League Rookie of the Month for July thanks to a robust .379/.443/.621 line, Kang batted just .253 in August, though he did have five homers, two more than in July.

After striking out in the second, Kang hit a double over center fielder Domingo Santana to start the fifth inning. It was Kang’s first hit off Milwaukee starter Jimmy Nelson, who’d held the South Korean to 0-for-6 with four strikeouts prior to Tuesday’s game.

Kang grounded out to second in the seventh. Then with the Pirates down 7-3 with two outs in the ninth, Kang took David Goforth over left center for the solo shot.

The Pirates failed to get any closer and dropped to 79-51 for the season.

In the American League, Choo Shin-soo of the Texas Rangers had three hits in an 8-6 win over the San Diego Padres on the road.

Choo was 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, raising his average to .249 as the Rangers improved to 69-62, good for a second wild card spot in the AL.

Choo is enjoying a fine second half and put together a strong August with a .274/.405/.442 line along with three homers and 11 RBIs. Choo reached safety in 26 of 27 games he played last month.