The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 Thursday to pick up their 90th win of the year. This year’s Los Angeles outfit is the twelfth team in MLB history to reach 90 wins in 126 games, the AP reports.
Dodgers’ starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu allowed one run on four hits and two walks in six innings pitched.
A Chris Taylor single scored Enrique Hernandez in the top of the second, but the Pirates clawed back in the bottom half on the strength of an RBI single from Jordy Mercer.
In the top of the fourth, Curtis Grandson hit his third home run in six games since joining the Dodgers on August 18 to put the Dodgers ahead 2-1. In the top of the seventh, Enrique Hernandez added some insurance, scoring Yasiel Puig on a single to center.
Frazier brought the Pirates within striking distance with an RBI single to left center (Mercer scored) , but Yasmani Grandal and Adrian Gonzalez blasted back-to-back long balls in the top of the eighth to all but seal the Dodgers’ victory.
Dodgers’ reliever Pedro Baez walked a batter and hit another in the bottom of the eighth, but did not allow a hit.
Brandon Morrow, who took the mound in place of All-Star first-stringer Kenley Jansen for the night, retired Pittsburgh in order in the bottom of the ninth to record his first save since May 10, 2009, per the AP.
It seems everyone who takes the mound for the Dodgers these days is untouchable, and Ryu is happy to be back in the fold.
Ryu was named Rookie of the Year in 2013, after going 13-8 in 30 games with a 3.00 ERA. In 2014, he went 14-7 with a 3.38 ERA in 26 starts.
Ryu more or less spent the next two years on the disabled list; over that span, he pitched a total of 4 2/3 innings.
He had some rust to shake off when he returned to the Dodgers’ rotation this season. He went 2-6 in his first 9 starts, with a combined ERA of 4.08. He did pick up a save against the Cardinals on May 25, coming on in the sixth to throw four full innings of shutout baseball.
Since June 5, Ryu is 3-0 with a 2.63 ERA in ten starts. His resurgence could not have come at a better time for the Dodgers, whose top three starters—Clayton Kershaw, Yu Darvish, and Alex Wood—are all on the 10-day disabled list.
Kershaw has not pitched since he left with a back injury after the second inning of a start against Atlanta on July 23.
Meanwhile, veteran southpaw Rich Hill is himself pitching like he deserves to be at the top of the rotation. He is 5-1 since July 1, with a 2.25 ERA. Last night, he threw nine full innings of no-hit baseball. The first Pirate to come to the plate in the bottom of the tenth, second baseman Josh Harrison, shattered Hill’s bid for history with a home run down the left field line.
The Dodgers failed to score a run in ten innings despite eight hits and eleven baserunners.
The Dodgers’ expect all three of their reeling hurlers to return imminently, and to be at full strength come the postseason. Manager Dave Roberts will likely employ a four-man rotation consisting of Kershaw, Darvish, Wood, and Hill. Ryu would move to the bullpen.
Though he is just now finding his step after almost two full seasons on the disabled list, Ryu said he would be willing to yield his starting spot in a rotation that arguably features five aces. Ryu could likely be a number one or number two starter on any other team.
”As a starting pitcher, you just want to put your team in position to win,” Ryu said. ”I believe in doing my job and that decision [regarding the postseason rotation], that’s not something I can control,” he said, per the AP.
Pittsburgh has dropped nine of its last 12 and sits in third place in the NL Central, eight games behind the division-leading Cubs. Friday, the team opens a six game road trip consisting of three game sets in Cincinnati and Chicago.
The Dodgers, who are 36-8 in their last 44 games, will host the Brewers over the weekend before hitting the road for three game in Arizona and four in San Diego.
