Lee Jung-hoo Hits 9th Homer of Season, Sets New Personal MLB Single-Season Record and Returns to .300 Batting Average

San Francisco Giants outfielder Lee Jung-hoo, 27, hit his 9th home run of the season, setting a new personal single-season high for home runs in the major leagues.

Starting as the leadoff hitter and right fielder in a home game against the Houston Astros in the Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, today (August 11), Lee went 2-for-5 with one home run, one run scored, and one RBI.

By hitting his 9th home run of the season, Lee achieved a new personal single-season record for home runs since making his big league debut.

Lee hit two home runs in 2024, his debut season in the majors, and recorded eight in 2025.

With just one more home run, he will reach double-digit home runs in a single season for the first time since advancing to the MLB.

His season batting average rose from 0.298 to 0.300 (124 hits in 414 at-bats), bringing him back to the .300 mark.

Lee initially struggled against Houston starting right-handed pitcher Hayden Wesneski.

In his first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning, he flied out to shortstop, and in the bottom of the third with one out and a runner on first, he grounded into a shortstop double play.

However, he launched a home run with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning while the game was tied 1-1.

He pulled Wesneski's second-pitch 148.8 km/h (92.5 mph) inside four-seam fastball over the right-field wall for a solo home run travelling 116 meters.

In the bottom of the eighth inning with a 3-2 lead, he stepped up as the leadoff hitter and softly poked an outside slider from newly changed pitcher Steven Okert for a single to left field.

With this hit, Lee completed his 35th multi-hit game of the season.

He ended the game by grounding out to shortstop with two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the 10th inning, trailing 3-6.

The San Francisco Giants allowed a tying run in the top of the ninth and gave up three runs in the top of the 10th-inning extra-inning tiebreaker, suffering a 3-6 comeback loss.

Sinking into a three-game losing streak, San Francisco maintained fourth place in the National League (NL) West with a record of 49 wins and 70 losses and a winning percentage of 0.412.

Song Seong-mun of the San Diego Padres, who started for the first time in three games, played as the 9th-batter shortstop in a home game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park in San Diego, California, going 0-for-2 with one sacrifice bunt.

His season batting average dropped from 0.213 to 0.209 (23 hits in 110 at-bats).

In the bottom of the third with no outs and a runner on second and trailing 1-2, Song advanced the runner to third with a sacrifice bunt, but subsequent batters failed to produce hits, leaving him with regret.

He flied out to left field in the bottom of the sixth and grounded out to first base in the bottom of the seventh.

Bae Ji-hwan, who recorded a bunt single and a sacrifice bunt yesterday in his Milwaukee debut and big league return game, sat out today, meaning the Korean matchup did not take place.

Winning 3-2, San Diego maintained third place in the NL West with 63 wins and 57 losses and a winning percentage of 0.525.

Kim Ha-sung of the Atlanta Braves, who came on as a pinch runner in yesterday's 10th-inning extra-inning tiebreaker and scored the winning run, also watched from the bench today.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.