Toronto: Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants has marked his return to the leadoff spot with a multihit effort, though it wasn't enough to stop his club's losing streak. Lee went 2-for-5 with an RBI and scored the game's first run in the Giants' 8-6 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Sunday (local time).
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee batted leadoff for the first time since June 17. He had hit fifth, sixth, and seventh over the past several weeks before returning to the top of the order in this game, where he started with a fortunate double. Lee lifted a routine flyball to shallow left, but left fielder Davis Schneider lost track of the ball, allowing it to drop in front of him. Lee advanced to second base, marking his team-leading 20th double of the season, and then scored on a single by Heliot Ramos.
After striking out in the third and grounding out in the fifth, Lee picked up an RBI hit in the sixth. Facing left-handed reliever Justin Bruihl, Lee poked a single to center field and attempted to advance to second when center fielder Myles Straw threw to third baseman Ernie Clement. Clement quickly threw to second baseman Leo Jimenez to tag Lee out, a call that was initially ruled safe but later overturned in a video review. Lee's hit reduced the Giants' deficit to 7-6, but the Blue Jays added a run in the bottom of the sixth, completing their three-game sweep of San Francisco.
The Giants, having dropped five straight games, are now third in the National League West with a 52-48 record. Lee is batting .249 for the season and .306 for July with four multihit games.
Elsewhere in Major League Baseball, Kim Ha-seong of the Tampa Bay Rays went 0-for-3 but managed two walks and a steal, as the Rays fell to the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida. Defensively, Kim made his second start of the season at second base. Kim is batting .226/.294/.355 with three steals in nine games this season after making a delayed season debut on July 4 following a long rehab from shoulder surgery.
In the National League, Kim Hye-seong of the Los Angeles Dodgers went 0-for-1 in a 6-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles after entering the game as a pinch runner. Kim ran for Freddie Freeman after the star first baseman was hit by a pitch on his left wrist, then stayed in the game to take over at second base, with Miguel Rojas moving from second base to first base.