Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants produced a five-hit game — his first since joining MLB three years ago — and pushed his batting average back above .300 after a 33-day dip.
At Coors Field in Denver on Tuesday, Lee started in right field and hit fifth for the Giants in a road game against the Colorado Rockies, finishing 5-for-6 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Lee had been sidelined on the injured list with a lower-back muscle strain but returned for the three-game weekend series at Colorado on May 30. He recorded four hits in his first game back, followed by a two-hit performance that included a triple the next day, and then capped the stretch with Tuesday’s five-hit outburst.
Prior to Tuesday, Lee had four-hit games four times in his big-league career; this was his first five-hit performance.
The surge lifted his season average to .304, moving him back over .300 for the first time since April 29.
The Giants racked up 25 hits, including three homers, and rolled to a 19-6 victory, snapping a five-game losing streak.
Lee opened the scoring in the first inning with a clean RBI single up the middle with two outs and runners at the corners.
He flew out to left in the third, then led off the fifth with a double to center that ignited a big frame while San Francisco led 4-3.
Lee scored on Matt Chapman’s two-run double shortly after, and the Giants erupted for seven runs in the fifth to take an 11-3 lead and seize control of the game.
Because the lineup turned over, Lee came to the plate twice in the fifth and reached again with a single through the middle.
With one out and a runner on second in the seventh, Lee delivered an RBI single to center that pushed the lead to 14-5. He added another single up the middle in the eighth before being replaced by a pinch-runner.
Lee’s RBI total for the season rose to 19.
He and four teammates — including Rafael Devers (4 hits) and Willy Adames (3 hits) — led the attack, as five Giants collected at least three hits.
Atlanta Braves infielder Kim Ha-seong started at shortstop in a road game against the Cincinnati Reds for the first time in four games but went 0-for-3, dropping his average to .089.
Kim finished 0-for-3 with a line-drive out to left, a strikeout and a flyout to left as Atlanta fell 6-4.
San Diego Padres infielder Song Seong-mun also made a rare start at second base in a road game against the Washington Nationals and went 0-for-2.
Song hit two fly balls to the outfield, drew a walk in the seventh and was thrown out attempting to steal second.
Song’s season average fell to .174, and San Diego lost 4-2.
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