Los Angeles Dodgers' Kim Hye-seong of Major League Baseball got a hit in his first at-bat. It was his second straight game with a hit.
Kim Hye-seong led the team to a 4-1 victory in the away game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the 8th (Korean time), going 1 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored in the 2026 Major League season. Kim Hye-seong's season batting average is .429.
That day the Dodgers set their lineup in order as Shohei Ohtani (designated hitter), Kyle Tucker (right fielder), Will Smith (catcher), Freddie Freeman (first baseman), Teoscar Hernández (left fielder), Andy Pages (center fielder), Max Muncy (third baseman), Miguel Rojas (shortstop) and Alex Verdugo (second baseman).
But the lineup changed just before the game. Kim Hye-seong started in place of Rojas. Kim Hye-seong showed his presence properly that day.
Kim Hye-seong's first at-bat came in the top of the third. Leading off, he targeted Toronto starter Kevin Gausman's second pitch, a 92.5 mph four-seam fastball, and hit a double to right-center field.
He advanced to third on Verdugo's sacrifice bunt. Verdugo was also safe at first, creating a no-out, bases loaded situation. Then Ohtani delivered an RBI hit. Ohtani hit a hard ball to the right-field wall, and Kim Hye-seong easily scored home.
With Kim Hye-seong scoring on Ohtani's hit, the Dodgers took the lead. Kim Hye-seong, who was called up to the big leagues late due to Betts' injury, has carried his good hitting from Triple-A.
After Ohtani's RBI that scored Kim Hye-seong, Tucker struck out. Smith hit a grounder toward third base, and in the meantime third-base runner Verdugo scored. Ohtani, who was running to second, was out, and Smith was safe. However, no follow-up hit came, so they could not add any more runs.
Kim Hye-seong, leading off the top of the fifth with his team up 2-0, drew a walk. He then advanced to second on Gausman's balk. Toronto manager John Schneider strongly protested and was ejected.
With nobody out and a runner on second, Verdugo delivered an RBI hit, and Kim Hye-seong scored again. Having reached multiple times with a hit and a walk, Kim Hye-seong struck out swinging in his sixth-inning at-bat. He also struck out in the eighth, but after his hit and walk earlier in the game led to runs, he showed his presence with contact and plate discipline.
Since his call-up to the big leagues, Kim Hye-seong made a defensive substitution appearance in the Washington Nationals game on the 6th and then started the first day of the Toronto series on the 7th, going 2 for 4 with a walk. He got a hit in his first at-bat that day to record his second straight game with a hit.<
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