Los Angeles Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu is in the midst of his best Major League season, and he looked to continue that on Wednesday night against the New York Mets.
Ryu got off to a good start, retiring the first nine hitters he faced in order. Things went downhill from there though and he wound up allowing 11 hits and five runs (three earned) in six innings while striking out eight without issuing a walk.
Overall, the start was not a bad one for Ryu. Several of the Mets’ runs came due to defensive miscues by the Dodgers and softly hit singles.
Ryu gave credit to the Mets after the game, saying that their ability to put the ball in play was challenging for him to pitch against, via J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group:
“Personally, I felt like they were trying to make more contact than going for power,” he said of the Mets. “Their swings were smaller, more compact. That was difficult for me.”
Perhaps the Dodgers offense could learn something from the Mets 14-hit performance as they could only muster three hits of their own on the night. Two of those left the yard on home runs by Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger.
The loss dropped Ryu to 4-2 on the season to go along with a 2.47 ERA and 1.05 WHIP with 67 strikeouts and 12 walks in 58.1 innings. He will look to continue to be an essential part of the starting rotation for the last month of the season and could work his way into a potential postseason rotation if the Dodgers are fortunate enough to make it back for the sixth straight year.
