Los Angeles Dodgers’ Korean starter Ryu Hyun-jin looked shaky in his first start of the new season here on Monday, as he was unable to make an early lead stand. Ryu was charged with three earned runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ South Korean starter Ryu Hyun-jin looked shaky in his first start of the new season here on Monday, as he was unable to make an early lead stand.
Ryu was charged with three earned runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix. Ryu left the game with the score tied at 3-3.
The Dodgers staked Ryu to a 3-0 lead before he even took the mound, thanks to Corey Seager’s RBI single and Yasmani Grandal’s two-run home run in the top of the first off starter Taijuan Walker.
Ryu gave back a run right away in the bottom first, when he allowed back-to-back two-out doubles to Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock.
The left-hander struggled mightily in the third inning and was lucky to give up just one run after three walks and a three-bagger.
Ketel Marte lined a triple over the head of center fielder Joc Pederson with one out in that inning. Ryu walked Goldschmidt to put the runners at the corners, but struck out Pollock on a high fastball.
Ryu worked the count to full against Chris Owings before walking him to load the bases. Then Ryu walked Jake Lamb on four pitches, as the Diamondbacks cut the deficit to 3-2.
Ryu escaped further damage as Nick Ahmed flied out to left, but he wasn’t so lucky in the fourth inning.
After getting two outs in the inning, Ryu gave up a single to David Peralta, and Marte brought him home for the tying run with his second triple of the game, this time a scorching line drive to left-center gap. That was the end of the day for Ryu, who allowed five walks and was touched for four extra-base hits.
He threw 75 pitches, and 40 of them for strikes.
Ryu, 31, is in the final year of his six-year, $36 million contract. He is the Dodgers’ fifth starter this year behind Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill.
Ryu made two starts against the D-Backs last year, and had a 0-1 record with a 6.30 ERA in 10 innings. He struck out nine, but also gave up three homers and eight walks over those 10 innings.
Morton helps Astros beat Orioles 6-1 in home opener
Charlie Morton pitched six scoreless innings, Marwin Gonzalez homered and the Houston Astros unveiled their World Series banner before defeating the Balti- more Orioles 6-1 on Monday night in their home opener.
Morton (1-0) allowed three hits and struck out six. The right-hander picked up where he left off after getting the final 12 outs in Game 7 against the Dodgers to help secure Houston’s first championship.
Brad Peacock pitched a perfect seventh and Will Harris allowed one hit in the eighth before Collin McHugh took over. The starter-turned-reliever allowed a homer to Trey Mancini and a double to Colby Rasmus before retiring the last three batters.
Baltimore has dropped three straight after winning its opener. Orioles starter Chris Tillman (0-1) was tagged for seven hits and four runs in four-plus innings.
Red Sox 7, Marlins 3
Brian Johnson gave the Red Sox their fifth solid start in five games, allowing one run in six innings. All five Boston starters have allowed less than two runs, a franchise first to begin a season.
Hanley Ramirez and Mookie Betts each hit his first home run of the season for the Red Sox. Johnson (1-0) gave up rookie Brian Anderson’s first career homer but stranded six runners.
Trevor Richards (0-1), the Marlins’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2017, retired the first seven batters in his major league debut but then allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Nationals 8, Braves 1
Bryce Harper hit a three-run homer, helping the Nationals to the first 4-0 start in their Washington history.
Harper’s second-inning shot off Sean Newcomb (0-1) gave the Nationals a 5-0 lead. He also walked four times and scored three runs.
Washington’s Tanner Roark (1-0) pitched seven innings of one-run ball. Newcomb allowed six runs, five earned, and five hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Braves right-hander Anibal Sanchez, whose contract was purchased from Triple-A Gwinnett before the game, pitched three scoreless innings in relief to strengthen his bid for a spot in the rotation.
Tigers 6, Twins 1
Francisco Liriano pitched into the seventh inning and Victor Martinez drove in three runs to hand Ron Gardenhire his first win with the Tigers. Gardenhire won 1,068 games as Minnesota’s manager from 2002-14.