Ryu Hyun-jin misses out on his 10th win of the season

Korean monster Ryu Hyun-jin pitched well during seven innings against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday (local time), giving up two runs, both unearned, on seven hits and striking out eight. When the score tied at 2:2 on the top of the eighth inning, Ryu was relieved by Ross Stripling, failing to earn his 10th win of the season and 50th win at the Major League Baseball (MLB).

Ryu, however, was able to lower his major-league-best ERA from 1.36 to 1.26 with all two runs unearned. Ryu extended his lead over Cincinnati’s Luis Castillo (2.20 ERA) to almost 1.00. Ryu has not given up back-to-back walks in the past three games.

In a match against the Los Angeles Angels on June last Monday, Ryu once again failed to earn a win despite his great pitching, giving up one run during six innings.

Ryu threw 59 pitches in five scoreless innings, striking out Javier Baez on the top of the first inning. On the top of the sixth, however, Baez reached first base due to an error by a Dodgers infielder followed by a Texas Leaguer by Kris Bryant, allowing a 2-1 lead by the Cubs. Both runs were unearned as they were caused by an error by a Dodgers infielder. Ryu was unable to earn a win as he was relieved when the score tied 2:2 in the sixth.

Dodgers earned a 3-2 victory with Russell Martin’s game-winning hit in the eight after losing 1-2 the previous day. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised Ryu’s dominant outing by saying Cubs hitters had struggled to hit Ryu’s pitches.

Ryu will be on the mound against the Colorado Rockies in Los Angeles on June 22 and attempt to earn his 10th win of the season and 50th win of his MLB career once again.


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com