▲ Jung Hoo Lee hangs his head (left)
Jung Hoo Lee of the San Francisco Giants, who blasted two home runs the previous day, continued his extra-base hit streak with a double, but lowered his head following a decisive blunder in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Starting as the number two batter and right fielder in an away game against the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB) held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on August 5 (KST), Lee recorded one hit in five at-bats.
His season batting average dipped slightly from 0.306 to 0.305 (120 hits in 394 at-bats).
Lee showcased his revived batting form by collecting a hit for the fourth consecutive game and an extra-base hit for the third straight game.
After grounding out to first base in his first plate appearance in the top of the first inning, Lee produced a hit in the top of the third with San Francisco trailing 0-2.
With one out against Texas left-handed starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore, he turned on the fifth pitch—an outside high fastball on a 1-2 count—and drove it into left-center for a double.
The opposite-field hit pierced left-center, and Lee safely cruised into second base with his speed.
However, Lee failed to score as the subsequent batting lineup remained silent.
He did not reach base in his remaining plate appearances.
He grounded out to second in the fifth, and flied out to center field in the top of the seventh with the score tied 2-2.
His final at-bat was particularly disappointing.
Facing a bleak prospect of defeat down 4-2, San Francisco scored two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 4-4, and Lee stepped up to the plate with a runner on first and two outs.
He attacked the third pitch—an outside fastball from Texas left-handed reliever Jacob Latz on a 0-2 count—and flied out to left field.
Failing to capitalize on the opportunity to take the lead, San Francisco suffered a narrow 4-5 defeat after allowing a walk-off RBI single to Ezequiel Duran in the bottom of the ninth.
A defensive miscue by Lee occurred during this sequence.
With two outs and runners on first and second, Lee failed to properly track the flight of a routine ball hit by Duran.
Ultimately losing sight of the ball right in front of him, he had to watch the opposing team's victory celebration.
However, Lee's play was not ruled an error.
Meanwhile, Kim Ha-seong of the Atlanta Braves, who survived the threat of release and rejoined the big league roster, did not play in the game against the Miami Marlins on this day.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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