A day hampered by San Diego's poor batting, Song Seong-moon's struggles, and May's 'perfect pitch' > News

Dustin May, who stood on the mound at Busch Stadium in St. Louis that day, was truly an ‘iron wall’. From the beginning of the game, the San Diego batters were completely overwhelmed by May's pitch, and were in the midst of a humiliating perfect game in which not a single runner could reach base before the 7th inning. May cooked up the San Diego lineup with near-perfect pitching, allowing only one hit and one walk over nine innings. In particular, he showed unwavering control while striking out 9, recording the first shutout of his career. San Diego's batting lineup was helpless against May's cutter and four-seam fastball, and fell into a swamp of empty balls that could not even find a clue to attack throughout the game.

Song Seong-moon, who started this game as the number 8 hitter and second baseman, also could not escape the team's severe batting slump. He was named to the starting lineup after 4 games and came to the plate with enthusiasm, but the result of no hits in 3 at-bats clearly shows the difficulties he is currently experiencing. After being retired by a pop fly by the second baseman in his first at-bat in the 3rd inning, he fought hard in the 6th inning, going all the way to the 7th pitch, but ultimately bowed out with a missed swing and a strikeout. In his final 9th ​​at-bat, he failed to get on base as he was retired by a line drive out to left fielder. As a result, Song Seong-moon was unable to produce a hit for two consecutive games, and his season batting average fell from 0.190 to 0.178, leaving him with the task of recovering his batting ability.

It's not that there were no opportunities to turn the game around. Fernando Tatis Jr., who appeared as the leadoff hitter in the 7th inning, stopped the team's perfect crisis by getting a walk after a persistent battle, and then Manny Machado broke the no-hitter streak with a single to left. But that was it. Even with a runner in scoring position, the follow-up batting line was silent and San Diego suffered a complete loss of 0-3 without scoring a single run. The San Diego mound, which did not receive scoring support, also struggled, but the only consolation was that Kyle Hart, a member of the NC Dinos of the Korean professional baseball team, came on in relief in the 7th inning and pitched 2 innings, allowing 1 hit and no runs, thus protecting the pitching staff's pride.

With this loss, San Diego maintained second place in the National League West Division with a season record of 37 wins and 34 losses, but the chronic problem of lack of cohesion in the batting lineup was once again confirmed. In a situation called Major League Baseball, where backup resources like Song Seong-moon are not guaranteed consistent playing time, not being able to take advantage of the opportunity that comes once is a very painful thing for the individual player and for the team's player base. In particular, Song Seong-moon, who needs to check his batting mechanism and regain confidence, feels resentful of the opposing pitcher's wall, which was too strong for him to prove his worth in this game against St. Louis. With the entire team going through a batting slump, who will break the silence first and start a rebound will be the key to the future ranking battle.