Padres' Song Sung-mun makes MLB debut as pinch runner

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- Song Sung-mun of the San Diego Padres has made his major league debut as a pinch runner.

Song came on to run for Luis Campusano at second base with two outs in the top of the eighth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second game of their Mexico City Series at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City on Sunday (local time).

With the Padres trailing 8-7, Song represented the tying run, with Campusano having reached base on an error by shortstop Jose Fernandez.

A wild pitch by Juan Morillo pushed Song to third base, but Jake Cronenworth failed to cash him in, grounding out first instead.

The Diamondbacks then put the game out of the Padres' reach by scoring four runs in the bottom eighth, en route to a 12-7 win.

Song, a former All-Star in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), signed a four-year contract with the Padres in December 2025. He began the season on the injured list while dealing with an oblique strain and spent weeks in the minors in rehab before getting his call-up prior to Saturday's Mexico Series opener as the extra, 27th player.

After Song's pinch-running appearance, Freddy Fermin took over from Campusano at catcher to begin the bottom eighth.

Song is the third South Korean in Major League Baseball (MLB) this season, joining his two former KBO teammates -- Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants and Kim Hye-seong of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Lee continued his hot streak at the plate Sunday with his first four-hit game of the year, as he helped the Giants beat the Miami Marlins 6-3 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

Batting leadoff for the first time since March 28, Lee went 4-for-5 with two runs scored to raise his batting average to a season-high .313.

Lee has gone 9-for-12 in his last three games. He was hitting .190 after a 0-for-3 day on April 1 but has been on fire since the middle of the month. Lee has been held hitless in only two of his past 12 games since April 14.

Lee began Sunday with a triple to right field and then singled in the third, fifth and seventh. He flied out to left in his final at-bat in the eighth.

Lee accounted for half of the Giants' hits.

Also Sunday, Kim went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in the Dodgers' 6-0 win over the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Kim is batting .333, after his string of three straight games with two hits ended.