The absence shock therapy was also ineffective. 'Son of the Wind' Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco Giants) is showing signs of a prolonged batting slump.
On the 23rd (Korean time), Lee Jung-hoo started as the fifth center fielder in the third game of the interleague series against the Boston Red Sox at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, and struggled with 0 hits in 4 at-bats.
Lee Jung-hoo, who watched the game from the bench after being excluded from the starting lineup the day before amid a slump with a season batting average of .172, returned to the starting lineup after two games but did not see a significant turnaround. He failed to live up to the confidence of San Francisco manager Bob Melvin, who used him in the fifth position.
Lee Jung-hoo faced his first at-bat in the bottom of the second inning with one out and no runners on, trailing 0-1. Upon his appearance, he swung at a high 92.7 mph (149 km/h) four-seam fastball on the inner side from Boston starter Lucas Giolito but was retired on a foul fly to third base.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, with no outs and a runner on first, leading 2-1, he also failed to make good contact. After viewing the first pitch strike against Giolito, he hit a high 79.8 mph (128 km/h) changeup on the second pitch, resulting in a pop-up to left field.
In his third at-bat, he was unfortunate as a well-hit ball fell victim to the defensive shift. In the bottom of the sixth inning, trailing 4-5 with two outs and no runners on, he swung hard at a middle 92.9 mph (149 km/h) four-seam fastball from Giolito with a ball count of 1B-1S, but the ground ball went directly to shortstop Trevor Story, resulting in a groundout to shortstop.
Lee Jung-hoo came to his last at-bat in the bottom of the eighth inning as the leading batter with an 8-5 lead. Against Jack Kelly, with a ball count of 1B-1S, he targeted the third pitch, a low 95.6 mph (153 km/h) four-seam fastball, but it resulted in a flyout to center field.
With four consecutive games without a hit, Lee Jung-hoo's season batting average dropped from .255 to .252.
The second-place team in the National League's Western Division, San Francisco, achieved a comeback victory over Boston with a score of 9-5, marking their second consecutive win and securing a winning series in the weekend interleague three-game set. Their season record stands at 44 wins and 34 losses.
Starting pitcher Robbie Ray struggled, lasting 5 innings with 8 hits allowed (2 home runs), 1 walk, 7 strikeouts, and 4 earned runs, while Spencer Bibens (1 inning, 1 earned run), Eric Miller (1 inning, no earned runs), Tyler Rogers (1 inning, no earned runs), and Randy Rodriguez (1 inning, no earned runs) followed in relief. The winning pitcher was Miller.
On the offensive side, Casey Schmidt went 4 for 4 with 1 home run, 1 RBI, and 3 runs scored; Hellyot Ramos had 2 hits in 4 at-bats with 4 RBIs; and Willy Adames tallied 2 hits in 4 at-bats, including 1 home run, with 1 RBI and 2 runs, becoming the main character of the comeback.
On the other hand, the fourth-place Boston team in the American League's Eastern Division fell to 40 wins and 39 losses, suffering a two-game losing streak. Starting pitcher Giolito achieved a quality start with 6 innings pitched, allowing 4 hits (2 home runs), 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, and 4 earned runs (2 unearned), but the bullpen struggled significantly, yielding 4 runs in the bottom of the seventh and 1 run in the bottom of the eighth.
Boston also faced a setback in the eighth inning when both the manager and a player were ejected. Leading batter Jarren Duran, who had gotten a hit and was called out at second base, saw the original ruling upheld after a video review, and after protesting, Duran was ejected, followed shortly by manager Alex Cora receiving an ejection order after protesting.
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