[Anchor]
Major Leaguer Lee Jung-hoo, who has been on a hot hitting streak lately, is cheering for the national World Cup team just like the rest of us. After hitting his longest home run since moving to the U.S., he shouted "Dae-han-min-guk!" (Republic of Korea) toward the camera.
Reporter Bae Jung-hoon has the story.
[Reporter]
In his first at-bat against the Athletics, Lee Jung-hoo launched a solo home run—his fifth of the season—over the deepest part of the right-center field wall at his home stadium, Oracle Park.
The ball traveled 126 meters, marking the longest home run among the 15 he has hit since his debut in the U.S.
Returning to the dugout with confidence, Lee high-fived his teammates and then shouted this toward the broadcast camera following him:
[Lee Jung-hoo/San Francisco Outfielder: Dae-han-min-guk!]
At his moment of glory, he sent a message of support to the national World Cup team ahead of their match against South Africa.
[Lee Jung-hoo/San Francisco Outfielder: It just came to me spontaneously. I always check the results (of the matches). I am also aware that they have a game (against South Africa) coming up.]
In the following defensive inning, Lee missed a routine fly ball, which led to a run, but he recorded a multi-hit game by using his speed to secure an infield hit in the 4th inning. In the 6th, he reached base on a walk and successfully stole his 5th base of the season.
During that play, he collided hard with the opposing second baseman and remained on the ground for a while, but he shook it off and stood up to a round of applause from the home fans.
Lee led his team to break a three-game losing streak and raised his season batting average to .331, maintaining second place, just 6 points behind the leader, Lopez.
After the game, Lee once again sent his sincere support to the national World Cup team.
[Lee Jung-hoo/San Francisco Outfielder: I believe they will definitely win. I heard that if they advance as the second-place team in the group, they will play in Los Angeles, where many Korean residents live. I am cheering for them from here, and I just hope they play a great game without any pressure.]
(Video Editing: Jo Mu-hwan, Design: Han Song-yeon)
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