Giants’ Lee Jung-hoo homers twice on career day vs. Yankees

Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants enjoyed the most productive day of his major league career in a road victory over the New York Yankees.

Lee homered twice and knocked in four runs as the Giants defeated the Yankees 5-4 at Yankee Stadium in New York on Sunday (local time).

This was the first multihomer game of Lee’s career, and the four RBIs were also his career high for a game.

In three games on his first trip to Yankee Stadium, Lee batted 4-for-9 with three home runs, seven RBIs and five runs scored. He had two home runs in 37 games in an injury-plagued rookie season in 2024.

Lee lined out to center in his first time up in the first inning and then launched a solo shot off left-handed starter Carlos Rodon that cut the Giants’ deficit to 3-1 in the fourth inning. It was the Giants’ first hit of the game against Rodon.

Lee turned on a 3-2 slider and drove it 406 feet into the seats in right field. It left Lee’s bat at 103.2 mph.

Then in the sixth inning, with the Giants still down 3-1 but with two runners aboard, Lee drilled a go-ahead, three-run homer off Rodon.

This time, Lee put a big swing on a hanging curveball and sent it 363 feet over the wall in right.

The ball would have been a home run in only eight of 30 stadiums in the majors, but Lee still became the first left-handed batter to smack two home runs off Rodon in the same game.

Lee drew a walk to lead off the eighth inning, and the Giants hung on to win by a run.

For the season, Lee is batting .352/.426/.704 with three home runs and 11 RBIs, both totals already his career highs. He is tied with Kyle Tucker of the Chicago Cubs for the major league-lead with eight doubles in his breakout campaign.

Lee ranks second overall in the majors in on-base plus slugging with 1.130, behind only Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees (1.228). He is also second behind Judge in slugging percentage with .704, thanks to 12 extra-base hits, tied for the second most in the majors.

Lee is fourth with 16 runs scored and fifth with a .352 batting average.

Lee, who missed a big chunk of last season with a shoulder injury, said he is trying to show his appreciation for the Giants for their help during his rehab.

“Everything I’m doing right now is all about just giving back to the Giants,” Lee said via interpreter Justin Han. “Throughout my rehab, the team helped out so much and supported me in many ways. They took me to the road games. During rehab during the offseason, the team was great, so it’s all about giving it back to the team.”