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Giants' Lee collects 2 hits in return to leadoff spot, Rays' Kim steals 2 bags

Published: 21 Jul. 2025, 11:00

Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants reacts on base after hitting a double, later to have the tag called overturned to be tagged out in the sixth inning of their MLB game against the Toronto Blue Jays Rogers Centre in Toronto on July 20. [AFP/YONHAP]

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 in Toronto on Sunday.

Lee batted leadoff for the first time since June 17. He'd hit fifth, sixth and seventh over the past several weeks before returning to the top of the order in this one, and he opened the game with a lucky double.

Lee lifted a routine flyball to shallow left, but left fielder Davis Schneider lost track of the ball and let it drop in front of him. Lee scampered to second base for his team-leading 20th double of the season.

Lee then came around to score on a follow-up 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 tried to advance to second when center fielder Myles Straw threw to third baseman Ernie Clement.

San Francisco Giants' Lee Jung-hoo hits a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during second inning of a baseball game in Toronto on July 18. [AP/YONHAP]

Clement quickly threw to second baseman Leo Jimenez to get Lee, who was initially ruled safe, only to see the call overturned in a video review.

Lee's hit cut the Giants' deficit to 7-6, but the Blue Jays responded with a run in the bottom of the sixth en route to their three-game sweep of San Francisco.

Having dropped five straight games, the Giants are third in the National League West at 52-48. 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 had two walks and a steal, as the Rays fell to the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida.

San Francisco Giants center fielder Lee Jung-hoo heads back to first base after hitting a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the second inning at Rogers Centre in Toronto on July 18. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

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 belated 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 took a pitch off his left wrist and then stayed in the game to take over at second base, with Miguel Rojas moving from second base to first base.

Yonhap