BASEBALL/Lee Hao-yu extends hitting streak to 9 games in Tigers' win

Taipei, July 25 (CNA) Taiwanese infielder Lee Hao-yu (李灝宇) had two hits and drove in the decisive run Friday as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Kansas City Royals 2-1 at home for their third consecutive victory.

Starting at second base and batting sixth, Lee went 2-for-3 to raise his batting average to .267. His nine-game hitting streak is the longest by a Taiwanese player in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Lee came to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second in the first inning, driving a 91.6 mph (147.4 kph) cutter from Royals opener Beck Way into center field.

The RBI single, which left his bat at 101 mph, gave Detroit a 2-0 lead after Riley Greene opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly.

Kansas City cut the deficit in half on Nick Loftin's RBI double in the fourth, making Lee's early contribution the game-winning hit.

Lee added his eighth double of the season in the sixth, hitting a deep drive off Noah Cameron that struck the right-field wall, but Detroit could not bring him home.

The double left Lee one shy of Lin Tzu-wei's (林子偉) career total of nine, the second-highest among Taiwanese MLB players.

Lee's streak surpassed the previous Taiwanese record of seven games set by Yu Chang (張育成) in 2021. Lee tied that mark Wednesday before breaking it with a hit Thursday.

Asked after the game how he had developed greater confidence since initially reaching the majors, Lee said the adjustment had come "step by step."

"New players coming up are bound to go through this," he said in a television interview.

Tigers ace Tarik Skubal earned his seventh win after allowing one run on four hits over 7 1/3 innings. He struck out a season-high 12 and walked two, lowering his ERA to 2.70, according to MLB.com.

"Skubal is an ace," Lee said. "We just need to do our jobs at the plate, string hits together and know what we need to do in each situation."

Detroit improved to 50-54 and remained fourth in the American League Central, 5.5 games behind the division-leading Chicago White Sox as of press time.

The win guaranteed the Tigers would avoid a series loss for the third consecutive series since the All-Star break.

(By Chao Yen-hsiang)

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