Giants’ rookie Lee Jung-hoo enjoys 1st three-hit game

The San Francisco Giants’ South Korean rookie Lee Jung-hoo now has a three-hit game under his belt.

Batting out of the leadoff spot, Lee went 3-for-5 and scored a run in the Giants’ 5-0 win over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver on Tuesday (local time).

Lee has now hit safely in five straight games, with five hits in the past two games. He is now batting a team-high .264 and is also leading his club with 37 hits.

He previously had some hard-hit balls go right at fielders but picked up a couple of infield hits on soft contact in this game.

Lee led off the game with a well-struck single off starter Dakota Hudson. Then in the fourth, Lee hit a dribbler down the third base line and beat the throw for an infield hit. He later came around to score to make it 4-0 for the Giants.

The rookie got his third hit of the game in the eighth.

He hit a grounder to first baseman Elehuris Montero, who made a backhand grab but airmailed his throw to pitcher Nick Mears covering the bag. The play was scored as an infield hit for Lee, who initially missed the bag but came back to step on it as the ball rolled toward the first base dugout.

Also on Tuesday, Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres went 1-for-4 in a 3-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

He is hitting just .182 for May, after batting .202 in April. For the season, his batting average is .210.

Kim didn’t have a hit against Cubs starter Shota Imanaga and got his lone hit off reliever Hector Neris in the ninth inning.