Mariners’ Lee Dae-ho hits 14th homer; Pirates’ Kang Jung-ho stays hot with double

SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) — Lee Dae-ho of the Seattle Mariners has hit his 14th home run of the season.

Lee hit a solo home run off Derek Holland of the Texas Rangers at Safeco Field in Seattle on Thursday (local time). The homer came in the bottom of the second and gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

It was Lee’s third home run off Holland in nine at-bats this year and his first home run against anyone since July 31, a span of 17 games.

Lee drew a walk in the fourth, singled in the fifth and struck out in the seventh. He finished the day 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, raising his batting average from .260 to .264. The Mariners went on to win the game 6-3 to improve to 72-68, 4.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the second wild-card spot.

In this Associated Press photo, Lee Dae-ho of the Seattle Mariners hits a solo home run off Derek Holland of the Texas Rangers during the second inning of a baseball game on Sept. 8, 2016, in Seattle.

Earlier in the day in the National League, Kang Jung-ho of the Pittsburgh Pirates stayed hot at the plate.

Kang hit a two-run double against the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, helping the Pirates to a 4-1 victory.

Kang entered the game having belted three homers in his past two games. And in his first at-bat against the Reds in the bottom of the first, Kang sent a two-out double to left center, bringing two runners home to give the Bucs an early lead.

Kang moved to third on an infield single by David Freese and scored to make it 3-0 on another single by Francisco Cervelli.

Kang got hit by a pitch in the third but lined out twice and grounded out once the rest of the day. He was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

He returned to action earlier this week from a left shoulder injury, and is batting 7-for-13 in his last three games.

Kang also made a nice backhanded grab on a sharp grounder off the bat of Brandon Phillips in the top of the seventh.

The Pirates evened their record at 69-69, four games behind the New York Mets for the second wild-card spot in the NL.

In this Associated Press photo, Kang Jung-ho of the Pittsburgh Pirates fields a ball hit by the Cincinnati Reds’ Brandon Phillips during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh on Sept. 8, 2016.