He caught his knee with a 92% chance of getting a hit, and SF coach Lee Jung-hoo was worried about his injury
Aug 18, 2025
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Lee Jung-hoo started as a leadoff center fielder in the last of three consecutive home games against the Tampa Bay Rays at Oracle Park on the 18th (Korea time) and recorded one hit and one strikeout in four at-bats. In defense, he caught a triple-like hit with a sliding catch, which was a must-see scene in the corner of 'Jin-Gi-Gi-Gi-Gi-Gi-Gi-Gi-Gi-Gi-Gi." San Francisco ended its seven-game losing streak with a 7-1 victory.
The defense came in the top of the fourth inning when the 0-0 balance continued.
Tampa Bay's leading right-handed hitter Yandy Diaz pushed a low sweeper 83.9 miles into San Francisco's starting Logan Webb's first pitch and hit a big ball toward right-center. As he flew wide to his left at an angle of 26 degrees and 105 miles, Lee ran to his full strength and reached out his glove at a distance of 383 feet to snatch the ball.
However, the ball bounced off the glove and landed on Lee Jung-hoo's left thigh, which slid into a sliding position. When the ball came down on his thigh, Lee Jung-hoo held the ball with both knees and did not miss it in the end. The second base judge's hand went up and was declared out. It was a perfect 'Hecaught it between the kines' that he couldn't even ask for a challenge on the Tampa Bay bench.
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Don't forget that when Lee Jung-hoo's defense scene was replayed immediately after the inning, the broadcaster called it "Someone 'the play of the decade." 누가 그 의견에 토를 달겠나?(Who's going to argue with that guy?)"라며 다시 한 번 호수비를 강조했다.
In an interview with local media after the game, Lee Jung-hoo said, `The ball flew away because it blew quite hard in the wind. So I did the sliding. I thought I caught it, but it seemed to flow down on my chest. It was definitely a fun catch" expressed his feelings.
Right fielder Drew Gilbert, who watched the scene right next to him, said "It was a crazy defense. It was so impressive. It was a winning play by the winning player."
Director Bob Melvin also thought he had fallen to the floor. Lee Jung-hoo lay down and didn't stand up for a while, so I was worried that he might have hurt his ankle. I watched the replay after a while. People talk about it. There was a ball between my knees. It was great. I've never seen a defense like that before."
Diaz, who missed a hit, saw it as a 200% double. I wasn't lucky to catch it. I think such a defense will be the only one after Lee Jung-hoo. It was a very strange play."
Statcast considered the hit's probability to be 92.0%. It means it had to be a hit, of course.
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Lee Jung-hoo hit a double to the right in the bottom of the first inning and continued his hit streak for six consecutive games. Against Tampa Bay right-hander Ryan Pepio, he pulled a 94.2 mile fastball that flew toward his body for the third time in the ball count of 1B1S, hit a sharp hit that fell off the bottom of the fence inside the right foul pole and slid into second base.
The ball speed was 99.1 miles and the distance was 313 feet. Lee Jung-hoo's 28th double this season raised him to eighth place in the NL. However, it was not more advanced because the follow-up hit did not explode.
Lee Jung-hoo struck out swinging in the third inning and retired with fly balls to left field in the sixth and seventh innings. He hit .260 (15 hits in 443 at-bats), six home runs, 46 RBIs, 60 runs scored, and an OPS of .733. Lee Jung-hoo has hit in 14 out of 15 games in August, hitting a monthly batting average of 0.339 (19 hits in 56 at-bats) and an OPS of 0.891.
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After two outs, Dominic Smith called in all three runners with a timely hit to the right, taking a 3-0 lead with consecutive hits by Eliot Ramos and Rafael Devers and a walk by Willy Adames. Christian Kos' double added one more run to lead 4-0.
In the seventh inning, leadoff Drew Gilbert and Tyler Fitzgerald hit back-to-back home runs, running away 6-0 to win the game.
San Francisco's starting Webb won 11 games (nine losses) this season by allowing three hits and seven strikeouts in seven innings. Webb, who lowered his ERA to 3.19, pitched 160 ⅔ innings to rank first overall in both leagues in this category.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
