'I want the Powerade on me every time': Leadoff Lee gets 4 hits in comeback win

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants’ lineup had a slightly different look on Sunday afternoon.

With shortstop Willy Adames getting his first day off of the season, manager Tony Vitello decided to slot the hot-hitting Jung Hoo Lee into the leadoff spot for the first time since March 28.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Lee stick at the top of the order, as the Giants’ right fielder continued to serve as a sparkplug by going 4-for-5 with two runs scored to help his club overcome a three-run deficit and rally for a 6-3 comeback win over the Marlins on Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park.

“I’ve kind of been saying over and over again, ‘It’s Jung Hoo just being Jung Hoo,’” manager Tony Vitello said. “But today was a pretty dang good day. Overall, it’s been inspiring. The guy plays the game the right way. His at-bats have been competitive. He’s always helping out on defense. He’s been electric, hitting balls all over the park. We’ve been looking for kind of that consistent sparkplug.”

With back-to-back victories, the Giants (13-15) secured a 4-2 homestand against the Dodgers and Marlins and earned their third consecutive series win.

Casey Schmitt delivered the decisive hit for the second consecutive day, mashing a three-run blast off Miami left-hander Andrew Nardi to snap a 3-3 tie and put the Giants ahead for good in the bottom of the seventh.

Landen Roupp earned his fourth straight win after giving up three runs on two hits over a career-high 7 2/3 innings, improving to 5-1 with a 2.55 ERA on the year. The lone blemish for Roupp came in the second, when he surrendered a three-run shot to Graham Pauley that put the Giants in an early hole.

Still, San Francisco managed to claw back following another big day from Lee, who is slashing .439/.467/.667 with a 1.334 OPS, eight extra-base hits and five RBIs over his last 15 games.

“I think it's the preparation, for sure,” Lee said via interpreter Justin Han. “In Spring Training, you have all those times to prepare for the regular season. I feel like maybe in the beginning of the season, it didn't come out, my preparation that I put in, the effort that I put in. But I feel like now it's coming out performance-wise. I’ve got to give credit to the hitting coaches. They've been awesome. I just want to keep on going with this right now.”

Lee, who was batting leadoff for only the second time this year, opened the bottom of the first with a triple, though he was left stranded after Marlins right-hander Max Meyer retired Matt Chapman, Luis Arraez and Schmitt to end the inning.

But Lee got another chance to set the table in the third, when he singled, advanced to second on a hit-by-pitch and scored the Giants’ first run of the game on a throwing error from Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez.

Rafael Devers brought San Francisco within one with an RBI double off Calvin Faucher in the sixth and then scored the tying run on Drew Gilbert’s opposite-field single through Miami’s drawn-in infield.

The Giants completed their comeback in the seventh. Lee led off with his third single of the day, and Chapman walked to put a pair of runners on with one out for Schmitt, who proceeded to drive a first-pitch slider from Nardi out to left-center field for his team-high fourth home run of the year.

“I was just staying relaxed, staying in the moment, not trying to do too much,” Schmitt said. “Just look for something I can get into the outfield, get the run in. That was pretty much it. There was nothing crazy. Me and [hitting coach] Hunter [Mense] had a good game plan, and we just went out and executed it.”

Lee was involved in another big splash after the game, as Adames managed to hit both him and Han with his trademark cooler shower while they were doing an on-field interview with NBC Sports Bay Area.

“I think Willy did a great job on that,” Lee said. “I want the Powerade on me every time.”

The Giants are slated to face left-handers Jesús Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez in the first two games of their next series against the Phillies, so Adames -- who is hitless in his last 21 at-bats -- could potentially return to the leadoff spot when the clubs face off in Tuesday night’s series opener at Citizens Bank Park.

Still, it could make sense for the Giants to give Lee a chance to regularly lead off against opposing right-handers like Andrew Painter, who will start Thursday’s finale for Philadelphia.

“It was certainly a pretty good case put up there by Jung Hoo that he’s as comfortable there as any,” Vitello said.