BASEBALL/Lee sets Taiwanese MLB records for season homers in Tigers' 11-8 win

Taipei, Sept. 19 (CNA) Detroit Tigers infielder Lee Hao-yu (李灝宇) set Taiwanese Major League Baseball records for home runs in a season and hits in a game Friday, helping his team rally past the Chicago White Sox 11-8.

The 23-year-old went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored, tying the game at 8-8 with a two-run homer in the eighth inning. The blast was his 10th of the season, while his four hits set a single-game MLB record for a Taiwanese player.

"When I actually saw it go out, I just blacked out," Lee said in a postgame interview, recalling his reaction as the tying homer cleared the wall. "I don't know what I said or did."

Lee said the Tigers never gave up despite falling behind early and credited his teammates with responding to their manager's call for quality at-bats.

Asked what fueled his energy on the field, Lee said: "I mean, I like to win. I don't like to lose. I helped the team, that's why I'm so happy."

Lee's 10th homer surpassed the previous Taiwanese MLB record of nine set by Yu Chang (張育成) in 2021 and made him the first Taiwanese player to reach double figures in an MLB season.

He also became the first Taiwanese player to collect four hits in an MLB game. Lin Tzu-wei (林子偉) and Chang had previously recorded three-hit games, while Lee had done so twice earlier this season.

Batting ninth and starting at third base, Lee grounded out in the third inning before singling to right field off White Sox starter David Sandlin in the fifth and later scoring.

Detroit, which fell behind 6-1 early and trailed 8-5 after five innings, cut the deficit to 8-6 in the sixth when Lee doubled to deep center field off reliever Chris Murphy. The two-out hit was his 16th double of the season.

In the eighth, Eduardo Valencia was hit by a pitch with one out before Lee sent a pitch from Sean Newcomb over the right-field wall. The homer ignited a five-run inning in which Dillon Dingler delivered the go-ahead RBI single and Riley Greene added a two-run home run.

Lee singled again in the ninth to complete his four-hit game, raising his season batting average to .264.

The victory lifted the Tigers to 73-81, five games behind the 78-76 White Sox for the American League's final wild-card berth, with eight games remaining in the regular season.