Ha

Jul 01, 2023

AJ Cassavell

SAN DIEGO -- One frustration compounding into another – an apt summary of the 2023 Padres’ season to date, and also Ha-Seong Kim’s Friday night at Petco Park.

San Diego’s spark-plug second baseman exited the Padres’ 7-5, 10-inning loss to the Mets after he jammed his toe kicking a water cooler. Frustrated that he had been thrown out at third base in a pivotal moment, Kim returned to the dugout and walked down the adjacent stairwell, where he kicked a cooler he thought was empty.

It wasn’t.

• Game Story: Padres' win streak ends in extras vs. Mets ▶️

Kim was removed from the game an inning later and sent for X-rays on his right big toe, which came back negative. He is day to day, manager Bob Melvin said.

Kim’s questionable baserunning decision cost the Padres on Friday. His ensuing injury might cost the Padres even further. In no uncertain terms, Kim has been one of their most valuable players this season.

“I made an aggressive decision. Then, obviously, it didn’t turn out the way I wanted,” Kim said through interpreter Leo Bae. “I also felt that play influenced the outcome of the game. I take full responsibility of the play I made and also the mistake I made. In the future, that’s not going to happen.”

The game was tied at 3 in the seventh when Kim laced a double into the left-field corner. He saw the ball carom slowly off the wall. He thought he saw Tommy Pham taking a bit too much time. Then he turned on the jets around second base.

Pham’s throw beat Kim by a step, though Kim attempted a swim move to avoid the tag. He later contended that Mets third baseman Luis Guillorme had subtly nudged him off the bag with his glove.

“I felt like he kind of pushed my foot off the base a little bit, so that definitely also frustrated me,” Kim said. “We wanted to win that game.”

Indeed, the Padres were searching for their first four-game winning streak of the season as they welcomed the Mets to town. Both clubs have underperformed in the first half, but both entered the series hot, hoping to end that first half with a statement.

Yu Darvish grinded his way through his first start since June 21 after he missed two turns because of an illness. He took a hard line drive off his back in the third but brushed it off and limited the damage for most of the night. He left with the game tied at 3 after five.

It stayed that way until the 10th, when the Mets scored four runs off Tom Cosgrove and Brent Honeywell. Manny Machado’s two-run homer in the bottom half was little consolation, as the Padres fell to 0-8 in extra innings.

“We can’t get past it,” Melvin said. “When you give up four runs in the 10th, it’s going to be tough to come back from.”

The Padres became just the ninth team since at least 1901 to lose each of their first eight extra-innings games in a season. The 2021 Twins were the last team to do so, and the 1969 expansion Montreal Expos hold the record with 12 straight extra innings losses to start a season. (They finished 0-12.)

Of course, the Padres could’ve avoided extras entirely had they scored a late run, which made Kim’s gaffe loom even larger.

“He’s an aggressive player, and he saw something down the line there and thought he had a chance to go to third,” Melvin said. “We’ve seen him -- he’s got really good instincts. It took a good throw to get him. … Sometimes you try to do a little bit too much. Maybe that was the case there.”

Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball.

Making matters worse, Juan Soto followed with a double to the left-center-field wall, which assuredly would’ve scored Kim. After Soto was stranded at second, Kim played the top of the eighth but left for X-rays shortly thereafter.

“I think the over competitiveness within myself kind of led to this result,” Kim said. “But [in] the future, I’ve promised myself I’m never going to make this type of mistake.”

Any absence for Kim -- even just the next two games before the All-Star break -- would be a painful one for the Padres. His 4.0 bWAR entering Friday led the team. He has posted a .752 OPS while entrenching himself in the leadoff spot, and he’s made a case for the Platinum Glove, leading all National Leaguers with 11 outs above average and 17 defensive runs saved.