Lee keeps hitting, but Giants’ middle-of-order stability can’t carry them in 6-3 loss

Jung Hoo Lee’s bat provided the familiar spark, but the rest of the San Francisco Giants offense failed to catch up in a 6-3 loss to the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night. Lee extended his hit streak to 17 games, and Bryce Eldridge added a home run in the ninth inning. In a season stretch where San Francisco has relied on the idea that lineup order can stabilize performance, this game highlighted the downside when multiple regulars go quiet at the same time.

The Giants have leaned into lineup continuity in recent weeks. According to the team’s game coverage, the first seven spots of San Francisco’s batting order have been “virtually unchanged” over the past 10 games. The concept is straightforward: keeping the order steady can reduce disruption and maintain established rhythms, especially for hitters trying to build timing. But the same steadiness can become a problem when the lineup’s collective production dips and the most productive bats are stuck in the same spots with fewer runners reaching base.

Those concerns became visible through June’s early numbers. In San Francisco’s nine June games, leadoff hitter Casey Schmitt, second hitter Rafael Devers, and cleanup man Willy Adames combined to go 19-for-115. Lee, meanwhile, collected one more hit in the month than that group. In other words, while the Giants’ batting order has not changed much, the output across those key roles has not matched Lee’s recent surge, leaving the middle of the lineup to do more than it can sustain.

Lee’s current form has been hard to ignore. The team’s coverage said Lee extended his streak with a single and a two-run double against Washington, bringing his total to 28 and 29 hits over his past 12 games. It is the most hits a Giant has ever collected in that span, surpassing a mark previously set by Hall of Famer Bill Terry in 1932. Lee’s streak is also franchise-relevant, representing the longest hit sequence by a San Francisco player since Donovan Solano’s similar run in 2020.

Eldridge’s homer gave the Giants a late moment of leverage, but it did not change the outcome. With two outs in the ninth, Eldridge hit his third Major League home run over the center-field wall, turning what had been a quiet night for much of the order into at least a finish with some noise. The fact that San Francisco’s most meaningful late swing came from a hitter lower in the order again underscored the issue that continuity alone cannot solve: when too many hitters are not reaching base, even strong individual performances are harder to stack into rallies.

The broader takeaway is that the Giants’ lineup strategy can cut both ways, depending on whether the top group can support the player carrying the streak. Lee’s run suggests the Giants still have a reliable engine inside their order, but the team now needs more consistent production from around him to fully benefit from the steadiness they have chosen. For now, Tuesday’s result is a reminder that lineup stability is not a substitute for timing, traffic on the bases, and timely hitting across multiple spots.