Giants' Lee Jung-hoo ties MLB triple record by Asian player

In this Getty Images photo, Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants reacts after hitting a single and reaching second base in the bottom of the seventh inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, Sept. 26. AFP-Yonhap

Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants has tied a major league record for triples by an Asian-born player in a season.

Lee went 3-for-4 with his 12th triple of the year as the Giants defeated the Colorado Rockies 6-3 at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Friday (local time).

He smoked the three-bagger off the bottom of the right-center field wall in the bottom of the second inning. The ball traveled 387 feet at 22 degrees of launch angle, and would have been a home run at 22 of 30 stadiums in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Lee broke a tie with two other players to grab the sole possession of third place in MLB in that category, behind only Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks (17) and Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox (13).

Lee also tied Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki for the most triples by an Asian player in a season. Ichiro, as he is widely known, had a dozen triples in 2005.

He wears Ichiro's old number, 51, in honor of the retired Japanese superstar.

Lee flied out in the third inning but then singled in the sixth and again in the seventh. He has now hit safely in three straight games, after going through a seven-game hitless funk earlier in September.

Lee is batting .303 for September and .264 for the season.

The South Korean center fielder made a gaffe in the eighth inning, when he made the second out by catching Hunter Goodman's flyball and tossed the ball to the stands as a souvenir, mistakenly thinking the inning was over.

Lee was charged with a throwing error, and the runner at first was allowed to move to third. Reliever Joel Peguero bailed out Lee by striking out Blaine Crim to end the inning.

Elsewhere in MLB, Kim Hye-seong batted 1-for-4 in his first start for the Los Angeles Dodgers since Sept. 8, as the Dodgers edged out the Seattle Mariners 3-2 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

Kim singled in the eighth inning for his first hit since Sept. 7.

Kim was picked off trying to steal second -- the first time he was caught stealing in 14 attempts this year.

Atlanta Braves shortstop Kim Ha-seong was hitless in four at-bats and struck out twice in his team's 9-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Truist Park in Atlanta.