Ryu Hyun-jin, Kim Kwang-hyun throw scoreless innings

Ryu Hyun-jin was undoubtedly a Blue Jays ace and Kim Kwang-hyun proved once again that he was a prepared starting pitcher. The two South Korean southpaws displayed stellar performances at spring training games on Monday local time.

Ryu pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings against the Tampa Bay Rays to earn his first win of spring training. Allowing three hits and striking out four on Tuesday, Ryu has proved his worth with perfect pitching after giving up runs during practice matches.

Ryu performed what was expected in Monday’s outing. After retiring all three batters in the top of the 1st inning, he allowed a two base hit to Riley Adams in the top of the 2nd inning. But he managed to strike out Joey Wendle and drew a fly out from the rest two batters. Ryu gave up two hits in the 3rd inning but struck out Kevin Kiermaier to end the inning. He quickly retired all three batters in the 4th inning as well. Throwing only 54 pitches until the 4th inning, Ryu came back on the mound in the fifth inning and fielded a grounder from a leadoff batter before leaving the mound. Ryu threw 44 strikes out of 64 pitches, and fans gave him a standing ovation for his perfect pitching.

Kim Kwang-hyun’s pitching was powerful also on Monday at the Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Florida. Starting for the Cardinals against the Minnesota Twins, Kim extended his spring training scoreless streak, striking out four and allowing two hits during three innings.

After showing powerful performance during earlier spring training games, the Cardinals pitcher exhibited his crisis management ability this time. Kim got into trouble in the top of the 3rd inning by allowing consecutive singles to Alex Avila and Gilberto Celestino, but he managed to retire the next batter on a flyout and another on a groundout. Kim, who had pitched two innings in the previous game, raised his chance of claiming a spot in the starting rotation by throwing 46 pitches during three innings on Monday. Kim threw a total of eight shutout innings during spring season, striking out 11 and giving up five hits.


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com