SAN FRANCISCO – Jung Hoo Lee was on the receiving end of two heavy blows Tuesday night. In the end, the one he was dealing with became more powerful.
Lee hit a career-long home run, clearing the fence at Triples Alley, the deep end of Oracle Park, to put the Giants on the board first in a 3-1 win over the A’s.
Then came indirect revenge.
After Lee reached third, drawing a walk in the sixth, he advanced to second base. When he arrived, he was met by second baseman Jeff McNeil, whose eagerness to hook a wide throw led him into the path of Lee’s slide.
Lee’s initial reaction sent fear into the sellout crowd of 40,043 that the throw might have hit part of his head without the protection of his helmet. It turned out that McNeil’s arm found his face.
Manager Tony Vitello, who is Lee’s trainer and interpreter, rushed from the dugout to second base, where Lee remained motionless for a long time. Turns out, he was just moved.
It was no match for the damage he did to Aaron Civale’s all-plate cutter that he took out in the second. Lee’s fifth homer of the season traveled 414 feet, 40 feet more than his longest homer so far this season. His career high was 406 yards.
A solo shot got the Giants’ bats in business, as Willy Adames followed with two and came around to score, opening a 2-0 lead, on a line drive from Matt Chapman over the left field wall.
Bryce Eldridge hustles, or faints, at home and nearly hits a single off Rafael Devers to lead off the seventh after using an ABS challenge to draw a walk.
Lee was not the only victim of what appeared to be physical play.
Both second basemen were forced to leave early, with Luis Arraez leaving after injuring his shin and Zack Geloff being hit by Chapman.
What does it mean
The Giants opened their homestand with a much-needed win, following a sweep at the hands of the Marlins to end their road trip that sent them 15 games below .500.
Who is hot
Robbie Ray walked four batters but didn’t allow a single one to come back to bite him and went eight innings, the only damage coming on an unearned run after Lee hit a simple fly ball to right field, leading to the third strike and he came around to score.
Ray, who struggled to get past five innings earlier in the year, turned in his second long start for the Giants and his best effort of the season.
There were signs to come, however.
Ray’s two-hit effort marked the third time in four starts this month that he hasn’t given up an earned run. In one trip he was beaten, he did not make the trip.
After posting a 6.44 ERA in May, Ray improved to 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA so far in June.
Who is not
It was shaping up to be a revenge game for Daniel Susac, the Giants’ catcher selected in the Rule 5 draft after the A’s left the former No. 28 pick unprotected.
When it comes to reviews, not so much.
Susac had three hits, lowering his batting average since returning from the injured list to .205. He was hitting .407 with a 1.152 OPS when he arrived in the IL; his batting average is now down to .267 with his OPS at .652, slightly better than Patrick Bailey’s .633 mark with keepers.
The OA were so determined that he posed so little of a threat that, with two outs and a runner on second in the sixth, they intentionally walked No. 8 shortstop Drew Gilbert to bring up Susac.
It proved to be a wise choice. The at-bat ended the same way as the previous one – he struck out third.
Next
Tyler Mahle returns to the rotation for the Giants as they continue a three-game series against their former Bay Area rivals on Wednesday. Mahle, who has been out since May 29 with a strained hamstring, was 1-7 with a 6.04 ERA when he went on the disabled list.
The Giants will have to make their own lineup to unlock him in IL.
