Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants snapped a two-game hitless streak by blasting his ninth homer of the season, setting a new personal best since joining Major League Baseball (MLB).
On Tuesday, Lee started as the leadoff right fielder in a home game against the Houston Astros at Oracle Corporation Park in San Francisco, California. He went 2-for-5 with a homer, an run batted in (RBI), and a run scored.
Lee’s solo shot in the fifth inning brought his season total to nine, surpassing his eight-homer mark from last year. One more long ball will give him his first double-digit homer season since coming to the big leagues in 2024.
Lee added another hit in the eighth, notching a multi-hit game and boosting his batting average to .300.
The Giants, fourth in the NL West, fell to Houston 6-3, suffering their 70th loss (49-70) and extending their skid to three games.
After flying out to short in the first and grounding into a double play in the third, Lee broke through in his third at-bat.
With two outs and bases empty in the fifth, Lee took a ball before crushing a 92.5 mph (about 148.9 km/h) fastball from Astros starter Hayden Wesneski over the right field fence.
Lee’s hot bat continued in his next plate appearance.
Leading off the eighth, he slapped an 81.7 mph (about 131.5 km/h) slider from reliever Steven Okert over the shortstop’s head for a single.
Lee advanced to second on Willy Adames’ fly out to center but was stranded there as the next batter failed to deliver.
Despite Lee’s efforts, the Giants couldn’t pull out the win.
Up 3-2 in the ninth, San Francisco’s fifth pitcher, Dylan Smith, allowed a game-tying hit to Cam Smith with two outs and a runner on second, squandering the lead.
The game went to extras, where the Giants’ bullpen faltered again, surrendering three runs in the top of the tenth.
In the bottom of the tenth, down 6-3, Lee got one last chance with two outs and a runner on second but grounded out against Josh Hader to end the game.