'Batting slump' Lee Jung-hoo atoned with defense! Super catch in the 9th inning → Secured .300 batting average for the first-half finale

*This content was translated by AI.

When his bat failed to connect, he threw his whole body into action. Lee Jung-hoo (28, San Francisco Giants), known as the "Grandson of the Wind," who had fallen into a severe batting slump since July, saved his team with a "super catch" that erupted just before the end of the game. It was a dramatic finale in which he perfectly erased his silence at the plate with an outstanding defensive play and personally shone as one of the few .300 hitters in Major League Baseball (MLB) during the first half.

On the 13th (Korean time), Lee Jung-hoo started as the fifth hitter and right fielder in San Francisco Giants' final home game of the first half of the 2026 MLB regular season against the Colorado Rockies at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, USA, but went hitless in four at-bats with one strikeout.

The recent batting silence continued. Lee Jung-hoo, whose hit production had noticeably dropped since July, failed to add any hits in his final two games of the first half. His batting average for July, based on local time, ended at .200 (8 hits in 40 at-bats).

Even on this day, Lee Jung-hoo was powerless: he grounded out to the pitcher with two outs and runners on first and second in the bottom of the first inning; he grounded out to the shortstop in the fourth inning; and he struck out in the sixth. In the bottom of the eighth with no outs and a runner on first, he only managed a fly ball to right field. His season batting average fell from .306 to .302. Although he started early July at .319, it dropped by more than one point. Despite the slump dragging down his average, Lee Jung-hoo still finished the first half with pride as one of only 10 players in MLB — where top baseball talents from around the world gather — to maintain a .300 batting average through the first half. Among batters who met the official MLB plate appearance requirement, he ranked seventh in batting average.

The real drama of Lee Jung-hoo's day came just before the end of the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and a runner on second base while San Francisco led 3-1. Lee Jung-hoo directly recorded the final out of the game by making a spectacular sliding catch that extinguished what looked like a hit ball from Colorado, quashing their last comeback attempt. Both the Colorado players who sensed a hit and the Oracle Park crowd erupted simultaneously. Eric Miller, the San Francisco pitcher on the mound, also breathed a sigh of relief.

It was the moment when Lee Jung-hoo perfectly atoned for his disappointing bat performance with outstanding defense. Thanks to Lee Jung-hoo's game-ending defensive gem, San Francisco achieved a thrilling two-game winning streak and concluded all first-half schedules in fourth place in the National League West (41 wins, 55 losses). They now trail last-place Colorado by three games. Lee Jung-hoo, who shed the heavy pressure of his batting slump with a thrilling defensive play, will also enter the All-Star break with light steps.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.