


NEW YORK >> Compared to the first two games of the Giants’ three-game series with the Yankees, Sunday afternoon in The Bronx may as well have been the Bahamas. The temperature was up, the sun was out and the sky was blue-ish, those conditions making for a much bigger crowd. Jung Hoo Lee, in turn, turned the Bronx Zoo into the Bronx Library.
Lee hit his second and third homers of his sophomore season, the first multi-homer game of his career, and drove in four runs as the Giants beat the Yankees, 5-4.
San Francisco’s win not only clinched a series victory to kick off its 17-game gantlet, but gave the team its first road series victory against New York since 2002, the first time the teams met in interleague play.
There wasn’t much Lee needed to say about those two crowd-silencing swings.
“The results are talking on behalf of me,” Lee said through team interpreter Justin Han.
Said starter Logan Webb, who allowed three earned runs over five innings: “I don’t think he’s afraid of the spotlight. You watch baseball in Korea, it’s loud environments. I don’t think that will ever impact him that way. He’s used to that. That’s a plus for us. He’s just the guy that in big moments, I don’t think anything bothers him. You saw that today. You’ve seen it earlier this year. I’m excited to see him keep growing and keep getting better. I think there’s even more in there.”
There might, in Webb’s assessment, be another level for Lee to reach in time. The Giants are already plenty happy with the production Lee is providing.
Lee, who had never visited New York City prior to this series, embraced the bright lights of Yankee Stadium all series long. The 26-year-old set the tone for his time in the Bronx with a home run in his first at-bat of the three-game series on Friday. In total, Lee racked up three homers, four hits, four walks and seven RBIs against the Yankees.
“Everything I’m doing right now, it’s all about just giving back to the Giants,” Lee said. “Throughout rehab, the team helped out so much, supported me in many ways. They took me to the road games. During rehab, during the offseason, the team was great. It’s all about giving it back to the team.”
Lee has already eclipsed last year’s totals in runs (16), homers (3), steals (3), RBIs (11) and doubles (8), with the caveat that he played only 37 games last season.
Lee had not ever been to New York City prior to this series, but he leaves the Bronx having totaled three homers, four hits, four walks and seven RBIs against the Yankees.
“It’s pretty remarkable — and the fact that a lot of these guys, he’s never faced before,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s going to continue to face guys he’s never seen before. But that’s where the bat-to-ball skills come into play. It feels like he can put anybody in play, and when he’s seeing it good and he squares it up, those are the kind of results you’re going to get.”
Carlos Rodón, a former Giant, was one such pitcher who Lee had never faced prior to this series. Rodón now has the distinction of being the first pitcher Lee has homered off multiple times.
Lee hit his first homer of the afternoon in the fourth, sitting on a hanging slider and launching a 406-foot no-doubter over the right-field fence. The solo shot not only cut the Giants’ deficit to 3-1, but gave San Francisco its first hit of the game. When Lee stepped to the plate two innings later, he had an opportunity to do more damage.
Rookie Christian Koss began the inning by legging out an infield single for the first hit of his career. Willy Adames drew a walk two batters later, putting runners on first and second for Lee with one out. Lee fell behind in the count, 1-2, but when Rodón left a curveball at the top of the zone, Lee cleared the fences with a three-run shot to give San Francisco a 4-3 lead that it would never lose.
But the Yankees had an opportunity to spoil Lee’s career day.
Ryan Walker entered the ninth inning tasked with facing Austin Wells, Ben Rice and two-time MVP Aaron Judge, the last of whom already smashed a 116.8 mph double in the first inning. Walker handled the trio with ease. After getting Wells to fly out and Rice to ground out, Walker ended the game by freezing Judge on a perfectly-placed backdoor sinker.
“He had to be perfect,” Melvin said, “and he was.”
Lee is looking like the player the Giants hoped to acquire when he signed a six-year, $113 million deal following a disappointing rookie season that ended last May with a shoulder injury. The National League is stacked with elite outfielders — Juan Soto, Kyle Tucker, Corbin Carroll, Fernando Tatis Jr. to name a few — but Lee is the one leading the National League in OPS (1.130). The season is in its infancy, but a run at the Midsummer Classic is far from unrealistic.