Park Byung-ho of the Minnesota Twins drove in a pair of runs in the cleanup spot in spring training action Tuesday.
In a split-squad game at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Florida, Park went 1-for-3 with two RBIs as the Twins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-5.
After going hitless in his previous two games, the South Korean first baseman hit an RBI double off Jerad Eickhoff in the top of the first to put the Twins up 1-0.
Park grounded into a 5-4-3 double play in the third but reached on an error by third baseman Angelys Nina in the sixth.
The Phillies rallied to take a 4-3 lead through six, but the Twins put up a four-spot in the top seventh to retake the lead.
After Travis Harrison’s single tied the score at 4-4, Park hit a sacrifice fly to center to break the deadlock. Eddie Rosario delivered a two-run single to put the Twins ahead by three runs.
Park was hit by a pitch in the top ninth. He’s hitting .306/.333/.611 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in 13 spring games.
The Twins’ other squad defeated the Baltimore Orioles 5-1, with the O’s Korean outfielder Kim Hyun-soo missing action.
Both Park and Kim are in their first major league spring training. Park signed a four-year deal with the Twins in December via posting, and is coming off his second straight 50-homer season with the Nexen Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). Kim inked a two-year deal with Baltimore in December as a free agent.
He’d been one of the KBO’s most consistent hitters for the Doosan Bears and had a career batting average of .318, third-highest among active players.
Elsewhere in the preseason, Choi Ji-man of the Los Angeles Angels went 2-for-4 in the team’s 6-5 win over the Oakland Athletics at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The first baseman had gone hitless in his previous four games.
Choi, a Rule 5 Draftee hoping to make his major league debut this year, batted sixth and played first base. After getting called out on strikes in the bottom second, Choi hit a double off Kendall Graveman in the fourth. The Korean then hit a single off Gravemen in the sixth for his third multihit game of the spring.
He’s batting .224/.321/.306 with a home run and six RBIs. With aging Albert Pujols’s health concerns at first base, Choi and C.J. Cron are expected to share first base duties at least in the early part of the season. Choi has also played left field this spring.
At Peoria Stadium in Peoria, Arizona, Texas Rangers’ veteran outfielder Choo Shin-soo went 2-for-4 with a run scored in the team’s 17-5 loss to the San Diego Padres. It was Choo’s second multihit game of the spring. He’s batting .320 but has yet to hit a home run in 10 games. (Yonahp)
