All eyes were on Hyun-Jin Ryu when he took the mound on Thursday night in Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. Specifically since the Dodgers opted to start him over Clayton Kershaw.
Ryu made that decision look genius by throwing the game of his life, tossing seven shutout innings while allowing just four hits and striking out eight in the Dodgers’ 6-0 convincing victory over the Braves.
The start was Ryu’s first in the postseason since 2014. He dealt with shoulder and elbow issues that cost him all but one start during the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
The road back to a postseason mound was a long and difficult one for Ryu, but he was happy to see all of his hard work pay off on Thursday night.
“When I decided to do the surgery back then, it was under the premise that I would get back to the mound almost as good as I was before,” Ryu said. “Definitely the three years of the process was tough, but tonight seemed to be the fruition of all that hard work that I put in.”
Before the game, Ryu promised his teammates and fans that he would go “full throttle” from the first pitch of the night, and he was pleased with delivering on that declaration.
“I’m happy that I was able to keep my promise that I would go full throttle from the get-go,” Ryu said. “As a starting pitcher, I always prepared the game as if I’m going to throw over 100 pitches. So that wasn’t necessarily a problem. I’m just happy that I was able to do what I did today.”
With Kershaw now pitching in Game 2 on Friday night, the Dodgers have a chance to take a commanding 2-0 lead on the inexperienced Braves before the NLDS shifts to SunTrust Park for Game 3 and a potential Game 4.
