Ji Hwan Bae lifts Pirates to walkoff 7-4 win over Astros

Ji Hwan Bae hit a walkoff three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates past the Houston Astros 7-4 and get the Buccos back on the winning track. It’s fair to say they were pretty excited in Korea.

It was Bae’s second homer of the year and Pittsburgh is now hitting him at leadoff with Oneil Cruz out of the lineup.

Of course, the Korean excitement was two-fold, as Ji Man Choi also went deep, a solo shot in the sixth inning, also his second of the year, making Bae and Choi the first two Korean-born teammates to go deep in the same game in MLB.

Jack Suwinski also went deep, a two-run shot in the second inning, his first of the year.

On the mound, Mitch Keller got the start and continues to pitch mostly well. He went six innings, giving up two runs on six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts, but he did give up two solo home runs.

David Bednar pitched the ninth and blew his first save of the year, but it also resulted in his first win of the year after Bae’s heroics in the bottom of the inning.

The Bucs now move to 7-4 on the season and will be back in action this afternoon for the rubber match.