Lee Jung-hoo homers in San Francisco victory, keeps pace in batting race
San Francisco Giants' Lee Jung-hoo watches his home run against the Athletics during the second inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Tuesday (local time). AP-Yonhap
Lee Jung-hoo has hit his fifth home run of the season for the San Francisco Giants.
The Korean outfielder stuffed the box score in the Giants' 3-1 win over the Athletics at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tuesday (local time). Lee batted 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run, a walk and a steal.
Lee raised his batting average to .331, the second-best mark in Major League Baseball behind Otto Lopez of the Miami Marlins, who is hitting .337.
Lee blasted a solo home run in his first at-bat in the bottom of the second inning. Lee drove a middle-middle cutter from starter Aaron Civale 414 feet over the right-center field fence. It was the longest home run of his career.
Lee hit a career-high eight home runs in 150 games last year as a sophomore and now has five dingers in 70 games.
After celebrating his home run with his teammates in the dugout, Lee looked into a TV camera and did a "Dae-han-min-guk" chant in support of the national football team competing at the FIFA World Cup.
Korea will play South Africa in their final Group A match in Guadalupe, northeastern Mexico, at 7 p.m. Wednesday (local time). Korea will reach the knockout phase with a win or a draw.
Lee hit an infield single in the fourth and then drew a walk in the sixth before stealing second base.
He slid hard into the left arm of Athletics second baseman Jeff McNeil on the steal as the throw by catcher Shea Langeliers sailed into the center field, but he avoided any injury.
Lee has not yet been caught stealing this season.
He grounded out in the seventh, with two runners aboard and the Giants clinging to a 3-1 lead, and the home team hung on to win by the same score to snap a three-game losing streak.