The San Diego Padres lost the opener of the two-game Korea Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, 5-2, but that didn't stop second baseman Xander Bogaerts from making some incredibly rare baseball history.
Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com on social media:
Xander Bogaerts is the 3rd player with at least 1 hit in 5 countries/territories, joining:
Edgardo Alfonzo
Paul Goldschmidt
h/t@EliasSports
Bogaerts now has recorded hits in the United States, Canada, England, Mexico and South Korea. If the Padres play a game in Japan in the near future, he'd have a chance to break that record. Furthermore, Bogaerts has represented the Netherlands at multiple iterations of the World Baseball Classic, so he's decorated in many different ballparks across the world.
Bogaerts went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the loss. He's looking for a bounce-back season in 2024. After signing an 11-year, $280 million deal with the Padres before the 2023 season, he hit .285, but popped only 19 homers with 58 RBI. In the wake of losing Juan Soto this offseason, the Padres will undoubtedly need him to hit for more power across the board.
An 11-year veteran, Bogaerts is a .291 lifetime hitter with 175 home runs. He helped the Red Sox win the 2013 and 2018 World Series championships as well.
The Padres are 0-1 now after finishing third in the National League West a season ago. Though they remain longshots to edge out the Dodgers in the division, they do have Wild Card aspirations.
Game 2 of the Korea Series is Thursday at 6 a.m. ET.
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