Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco Giants) extended his hitting streak to 18 games. A day after setting a new record for the longest hitting streak by a Korean major leaguer, he broke his own mark again.
On the 11th (Korea time), Lee Jung-hoo started as the No. 5 hitter and right fielder in a home game against the Washington Nationals at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, and went 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs, and a steal.
The day before against Washington, Lee recorded a hit in 17 straight games, surpassing the 16-game record for the longest hitting streak by a Korean major leaguer held by Choo Shin-soo and Kim Ha-sung. He added two more hits on this day to push the streak to 18 games. Lee's hit parade has continued since the game against the Los Angeles (LA) Dodgers on the 15th of last month.
Lee also logged his 23rd multi-hit game of the season. A multi-hit game means collecting two or more hits in one game. With three straight multi-hit games recently, Lee's season batting average rose from .335 to .338. As of the end of Lee's game, that ranks second in MLB overall batting average. MLB is divided into the American League and the National League, and the overall batting average ranking combines players from both leagues.
Lee led off the bottom of the second for his first at-bat but went down swinging against Washington left-handed starter Foster Griffin. With one out and no one on in the bottom of the fourth, he reached for a low pitch outside and grounded out to second.
His first hit came in the bottom of the sixth. With San Francisco trailing 1-6 and two outs, Lee jumped on Griffin's first-pitch curve and lined a single to right. It was a low pitch out of the strike zone, but he used bat control to turn it into a hit, completing his 18-game hitting streak. He advanced to second on a wild pitch but did not score as the next hitter failed to deliver.
Lee reached base again in the bottom of the eighth to fuel the rally. With San Francisco down 3-9, he drew a walk after a full-count battle. He then stole second and scored on Daniel Susac's RBI hit.
San Francisco pulled off a dramatic walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth. Trailing 6-10 heading into their last at-bat, San Francisco closed the gap with back-to-back doubles by Luis Arraez and Matt Chapman. A walk to Rafael Devers put runners on first and second with none out, bringing Lee back to the plate.
Washington brought in left-hander Mitchell Parker to face Lee. With the count 1-2, Lee went with an outside fastball and shot a single to left. The hit loaded the bases with none out for San Francisco.
Then Bryce Eldridge launched a walk-off grand slam to right, sealing San Francisco's 11-10 win. Lee's ninth-inning hit set the stage for the massive comeback. With the victory, San Francisco avoided a home sweep in the three-game series against Washington. Lee will rest on the 12th and then begin a three-game home set against the Chicago Cubs on the 13th.
Locally, Lee's hot bat is also drawing attention. NBC Sports in the United States recently rated Lee as one of the hottest hitters in the majors, and teammate Eldridge said after the game the day before that Lee is "the best hitter in the world right now."