Trying to work themselves out of an early-season funk, the Los Angeles Dodgers bats came alive Monday night in their series opener against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, beating their division-rivals 10-3.
The Dodgers’ pitching was also solid in the victory, with Hyun-Jin Ryu turning in a strong performance for the second-straight outing. Ryu went six innings, giving up three hits and two runs while striking out nine without allowing a walk.
The only runs came on a two-run home run by Padres third baseman Christian Villanueva in the second inning. After allowing the home run, Ryu had a span of seven straight batters retired, and then another stretch of setting down eight in a row.
After the game, Ryu explained command was key to his succes, via Jay Paris of MLB.com:
“It was definitely nice,” Ryu said through a translator. “I always say I don’t overpower the hitter, so command is very important. I’m very happy with my [start] today and how I contributed to the team winning.”
“To have back-to-back outings with at least eight strikeouts is a reflection of my command I have,” Ryu said.
Ryu tossed six shutout innings of one-hit ball in his outing against the Oakland Athletics, so he looks to have found a groove after a rough start against the Arizona Diamondbacks to begin the season.
In his last two starts combined, Ryu has struck out 17 batters while only yielding one walk. The 17 punchouts over a two-start span are the most for him since April 25 and 30 of his 2013 rookie season.
If Ryu continues to pitch the way he has as the team’s fifth starter then the Dodgers should have one of the more formidable rotations in all of baseball in 2018.
