Lee Jung-hoo Extends Hitting Streak to 16 Games as Giants Lose 4-3 to Nationals

By Yoo Jee-ho SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- It was just another day at the office for Lee Jung-hoo, as he collected four knocks to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. The South Korean outfielder for the San Francisco Giants went 4-for-5 and scored twice, though the Giants blew a late lead and lost to the Washington Nationals 4-3 at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Monday (local time). Lee's 16-game run is the longest active hitting streak in Major League Baseball (MLB). This was the fifth game this season in which Lee had at least four hits, and four of those games have come during the ongoing streak. Lee pushed his batting average from .323 to .333, the second-best mark in MLB. Lee is hitting .508 (32-for-63) during his streak. Lee lined out to left fielder Daylen Lile in the bottom of the first against Richard Lovelady. Then facing new pitcher Miles Mikolas in the fourth, Lee singled to right field to keep his streak going. With another pitcher, Mitchell Parker, on the hill in the sixth, Lee hit a single to center field and later scored on a Matt Chapman single to tie the game at 1-1. Leading off the bottom of the eighth, Lee hit a dribbler toward the third base side, and catcher Keibert Ruiz picked it up and gunned the throw to first. Lee was initially called out, but the ruling was overturned following a Giants challenge, giving Lee his third hit of the game. Lee advanced to second base when pitcher Clayton Beeter made a wide throw on a pickoff attempt and then scored the go-ahead run on a double by Bryce Eldridge. The Giants added another run that inning to take a 3-1 lead into the ninth. However, the Nationals put up a three-spot that inning to grab a 4-3 lead. Lee came on for the final time with two outs and a runner at first in the bottom of the inning, and singled off closer Gus Varland to keep the Giants' hope alive. But Varland struck out Eldridge to slam the door shut on the Giants.