SAN FRANCISCO -- Before his MLB debut, Jae-gyun Hwang promised not to flip his bat in the big leagues.
"I don't want to get hit by a pitch," he said, smiling.
He didn't quite flip it, but Hwang had some fun when his first big league hit soared out to left field. The 29-year-old rookie crushed a solo shot in his third big league at-bat, giving the Giants a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh.
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Hwang got a 2-0 fastball from lefty Kyle Freeland and hit it 417 feet, with an exit velocity of 108 mph. He posed for a second before stylishly dropping his bat. Hwang pumped his fist when he reached the plate. He was greeted by a raucous dugout.
Hwang had driven in a run earlier in the game. He said the game was a big deal in South Korea, with television channels scrambling to broadcast the debut of a superstar who traveled overseas to live out his big league dream. It was 6:42 a.m. in Seoul when Hwang's blast landed.