The Detroit Tigers’ Taiwanese infielder Lee Hao-yu on Saturday recorded his 54th hit of the season in his first at-bat against the Chicago White Sox, matching Yu Chang for the most hits in a single season by a Taiwanese MLB player.
Lee singled on a soft ground ball off Chicago starter Anthony Kay in the bottom of the first inning. Lee scored the same inning after Eduardo Valencia drove the Taiwanese rookie in on a line drive to center field.
Lee, who started the game at third base, also played a major defensive role in a crucial double play in the top of the second inning.
Photo: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
With runners on first and second, Tigers starter Troy Melton fielded a ground ball bunted by Jake Rogers and tossed it to Lee, who forced out Chase Meidroth at third before throwing to second base to also get Tristan Peters out.
Lee went 1-for-3. He has a batting average of .266 for the season.
The Tigers ultimately lost 4-3, their second consecutive defeat. Chicago (64-58) have won five of their past seven games and lead the American League Central, ahead of the Tigers (60-63) and the Minnesota Twins (60-64).
Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
The single-season record of 54 hits was previously held solely by former MLB infielder Chang, who reached the mark in 2021 while playing for the then-Cleveland Indians.
Chang reached 54 hits in 237 at-bats over 89 games, while Lee tied the record in just 203 at-bats in 78 games.
Chang, who returned to Taiwan as the top overall pick in the 2024 CPBL midseason draft, plays for the Fubon Guardians.
Photo: AP
In Chicago, Joshua Baez sent the first pitch he saw in the majors about 137m for a home run, then homered in his next two at-bats to become the first player to go deep in each of his first three MLB at-bats, leading the St Louis Cardinals to an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Baez flashed a grin to the St Louis dugout as he began his home run trot.
“There was a calmness and a smile, like, ‘I’m here,’” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “It’s rare for me to pick my head up to enjoy parts of it. He didn’t exactly give us an option, but to actually take a step back and enjoy the heck out of what was going on there.”
Called up from Triple-A Memphis before the game, Baez had 30 members of his family in attendance at Wrigley Field. The traveling party, which included his mother, Yris Baez, gathered on the field for photos afterward in spite of rain.
“It’s just unreal,” the 23-year-old player said. “To not only get a hit, but three home runs? It’s crazy.”
The first came on the first pitch he saw from Matthew Boyd and landed in the bleachers in left-center.
The left fielder’s next at-bat ended with a solo shot down the left-field line and the third, on his ensuing at-bat, went the opposite way, giving him five RBIs.
MLB said Baez was the first player in modern baseball history to hit three home runs in his debut. The league cannot say with certainty whether the feat happened before 1901 due to a lack of game logs.
“He hit three different pitches for home runs. He had a great game. He beat us for sure,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.
In Los Angeles, Jacob Misiorowski struck out Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 4-1 win over the Dodgers.
“He’s understanding how his breaking stuff moves and what he can do with it on any particular day,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
Misiorowski allowed one run on five hits in six innings, needing an expanded arsenal of pitches to get out of the fifth unscathed after the bottom of the Dodgers’ order had three consecutive singles to bring up Ohtani with one out. The two superstars had already faced off twice, with Misiorowski throwing six straight fastballs over 164kph to retire him on a popup leading off the game.
Misiorowski needed three pitches to fan Ohtani, and only one was a fastball. Instead, catcher William Contreras called for a curveball and slider to bookend that 165kph heater.
“William took control and saw something, and we readjusted,” said Misiorowski, who improved to 12-5 while lowering his ERA to 1.75 with his 13th start this season in which he allowed one or no runs.
Misiorowski carried over the momentum to get Freeman swinging on five pitches, executing another slider to end the inning.
“I was trying to throw sliders down to get Shohei to bounce something, but, no, I got swings and misses. Kind of took that same approach into the Freddie Freeman at-bat, and was trying to get the same outcome, and it worked out,” Misiorowski said.
Elsewhere, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the New York Yankees 4-1, the Baltimore Orioles edged the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in 10 innings, the Cleveland Guardians defeated the San Diego Padres 6-1, the New York Mets pipped the Washington Nationals 5-4, the Miami Marlins overpowered the Cincinnati Reds 8-4 and the Seattle Mariners routed the Houston Astros 10-5.
The Philadelphia Phillies outplayed the Minnesota Twins 9-1, the Boston Red Sox sank the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0, the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Atlanta Braves 10-3, the Los Angeles Angels blanked the Kansas City Royals 1-0, the Texas Rangers beat the Athletics 5-3 and the San Francisco Giants rocked the Colorado Rockies 7-1.
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