Jung Ho Kang starts at shortstop, hits Miller Park scoreboard in return to Pirates

Kevin Gorman
Sunday, June 9, 2019 5:43 p.m. | Sunday, June 9, 2019 5:43 p.m.

Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jung Ho Kang rounds the bases during his two-run home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the second inning Sunday, June 9, 2019, in Milwaukee.

Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jung Ho Kang, left, playfully grabs the nose of manager Clint Hurdle as Colin Moran, right, watches in the dugout before the team’s baseball game against the Colorado Rockies in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, May 22, 2019.

With one swing, Jung Ho Kang changed the conversation on Sunday from where he was in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting lineup to what he did to the Milwaukee Brewers’ scoreboard.

Check ? The? Scoreboard?

No seriously, check on the scoreboard. Did he break it?#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/odQyLPpIHK

— Pirates (@Pirates) June 9, 2019

One day after being reinstated following a stint on the injured list, Kang started at shortstop for the first time since suffering a season-ending knee injury against the Chicago Cubs when Chris Coghlan took him out on a slide amid the Pirates making a run to the postseason in September 2015.

The Kang Show.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/HMVqjKoI6Z

— Pirates (@Pirates) June 9, 2019

Kang flashed his power in the top of the second inning, launching a 457-foot shot off the Miller Lite sign on the scoreboard at Miller Park. The two-run home run gave the Pirates a two-run lead in the 5-2 loss.

“That’s a loud swing, so he was competing out there,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “He looked pretty good.”

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Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.