Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spent a portion of Saturday morning speaking with optimism about Hyun-Jin Ryu and his outlook for the season. Then Ryu went out and laid a bit of an egg in a 5-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
Ryu issued two walks and surrendered two hits in the first inning, putting the Dodgers in an early deficit. The second saw much of the same, as the White Sox recorded four hits, including a run-scoring double and single, to extend their lead to 5-0.
The Dodgers didn’t necessarily do their part to help Ryu’s cause, with Donovan Solano allowing a grounder to kick off his glove for a base hit, and Jake Peter failing to turn a would-be inning-ending double play that would’ve prevented the two runs from scoring.
Ryu allowed five runs on seven hits, and finished with two strikeouts and walks. He fell one inning shy of going the expected length of his second Cactus League start.
“Nothing really happened,” Ryu said of the subpar outing. “In terms of command, it was actually better than my first Spring Training outing. From the set position I had a difficult time last outing but this outing I felt much better. There were a few unfortunate plays here and there.
“Also, the curveball I’ve been talking about, I tried to incorporate them more throughout today’s game. Otherwise I wouldn’t have done that during the regular season. During that process I gave up hits here and there and they were able to make pretty good contact on it.”
Kenley Jansen entered in the fifth inning and retired the side in order, while notching one strikeout. He also was forced to cover first base on a grounder hit to the right side of the infield, which Jansen said was a good test for his hamstring.
White Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez had a shutout through three innings. It came to an end on Chase Utley’s two-run home run, which was all the Dodgers could muster off Gonzalez and ensuing White Sox relievers.
