Giants' Lee Jung-hoo records 5-game hitting streak

Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giant scored multiple hits and has been on base for five consecutive games since the season opened.

On Tuesday, Lee played as the number one hitter and center fielder in the Major League Baseball (MLB) visiting game against the Los Angeles Dodgers and recorded two hits in five at-bats. The season batting score average rose from 0.286 to 0.316. Lee scored a hit from his first at-bat in the top of the first inning. He pushed a high fastball (152 km/h) outside of the opposing team's left-handed starting pitcher, James Paxton, and made a hit that rolled in front of left field. Lee then was out with a ground ball to second base in his second at-bat in the third inning and hit a single to center field again against Paxton in the fifth inning with no outs on first base. Lee was out due to a ground ball to second base in the seventh inning and a fly ball to right field in the ninth inning.

“Lee (as a left-handed hitter) has been hitting against left-handed pitchers that he’s playing against for the first time since the exhibition game,” said San Francisco manager Bob Melvin. “It’s impressive that he can hit in any direction.” The South Korean outfielder hit his first home run in his MLB debut in a game against San Diego on Sunday, playing against Tom Cosgrove, who was guarding the opposing team's mound at the time, also a left-handed pitcher.


Heon-Jae Lee uni@donga.com