Hyun-Jin Ryu not only turned in another strong outing, he broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the fourth inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the Milwaukee Brewers. After Ryu set the Brewers down in order, the Dodgers looked to jump on Matt Garza early.
Logan Forsythe led off the bottom of the first with a base hit and later moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Justin Turner’s infield single put runners on the corners with one out, but they were stranded by Joc Pederson and Scott Van Slyke.
Ryu picked up a strikeout during a 1-2-3 second inning, and the Brewers’ first baserunner did not come until the third, when Scooter Gennett lined a leadoff single into left field. Nothing came of it, however, as the next three batters went down in order.
The Dodgers nearly mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the third when Andrew Toles and Turner singled, putting runners on the corners. Pederson struck out a second time on the afternoon, leaving the game scoreless.
Austin Barnes drew a walk after Van Slyke hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth. But Barnes was thrown out on his attempt to tag on Cody Bellinger’s flyout to right field. Chris Taylor kept the inning alive by drawing his team-leading ninth walk of the spring.
That loomed large as Garza then allowed an RBI single to Ryu, which gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. While Ryu hit for himself, the left-hander’s afternoon was done after four innings. He held the Brewers to just one hit and had two strikeouts.
That brought Ryu’s totals through three spring starts to nine innings pitched, with one run (earned) allowed, five hits, one walk and eight strikeouts.
Luis Avilan entered for the Dodgers and immediately struggled. He walked the first two batters, surrendered an RBI double to Gennett, followed by a three-run homer to Manny Pina. Avilan was lifted after Ivan De Jesus Jr.’s base hit, failing to retire any of the five batters faced.
Josh Fields managed to put out the fire, but the Brewers held a 4-1 lead. The Dodgers got one run back in the bottom half of the inning when Turner improved to 3-for-3 with his second home run of Cactus League play.
Hernan Perez singled off Chris Hatcher to start the sixth, stole second base, then stole third and scored on the play via a Rob Segedin fielding error. Aside from the base hit, Hatcher struck out the side.
Despite allowing a pair of singles in the eighth, Ross Stripling completed a second scoreless inning in relief. Brewers reliever Jacob Barnes issued a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth, which led to a pair of runs for the Dodgers.
Tyler Holt advanced to second base with two outs on a wild pitch, then reached third on a passed ball. After Andrew Jackson’s walk kept the inning alive, Willie Calhoun chopped an RBI single into center field. Barnes’ second passed ball allowed another run to score, and the Dodgers trailed, 5-4, after eight innings.
Los Angeles failed to so much as have a runner reach in the ninth, and suffered their second loss of the spring to the Brewers.
