Lee Jung-hoo opened the second half with a three-hit game and two runs, giving the San Francisco Giants a needed lift in an away game against the Seattle Mariners. The Giants also won for a third straight time, and Lee’s line pushed him from fifth to fourth in the National League batting rankings.
He did it in four at-bats as the sixth-batting right fielder on the 18th at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington, the kind of start that quickly changes the shape of a half. For Lee, it was his first three-hit game in 39 days and his first since June 9 against the Washington Nationals, while his season total of games with three or more hits rose to nine.
That mattered because Lee had slumped late in the first half, leaving the Giants looking for a cleaner start from one of their most consistent bats. Instead, he answered immediately in the MLB second-half opener and gave the lineup the sort of production that can steady a team trying to hold its place in the National League West.
The sharper question now is not whether Lee can still put together a big game — he just did — but whether this is the start of a sustained second-half run. One strong night does not erase the late-season dip, yet it does show that the timing, contact and confidence that drove his first half are still there when the game needs them.
For the Giants, the result was just as important. They left Seattle with a three-game winning streak intact and stayed in fourth place in the National League West, a reminder that one player’s turnaround can ripple through a club’s standing almost immediately.
