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| ▲ In this Associated Press photo, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Toronto Blue Jays pitches against the Houston Astros in the top of the first inning of a Major League Baseball regular season game at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York, on June 4, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ In this Getty Images photo, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Toronto Blue Jays pitches against the Houston Astros in the top of the first inning of a Major League Baseball regular season game at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York, on June 4, 2021. (Yonhap) |
MLB-Blue Jays pitcher
Blue Jays' Ryu Hyun-jin serves up 2 homers in loss to Astros
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, June 5 (Yonhap) -- After promising early moments, Toronto Blue Jays' starter Ryu Hyun-jin was undone by long balls in a loss to the Houston Astros.
Ryu allowed a season-worst seven runs -- one unearned -- on seven hits, including two home runs, in 5 2/3 innings, as the Blue Jays fell 13-1 at Sahlen Field, their temporary home in Buffalo, New York, on Friday (local time).
Ryu fell to 5-3 for the year, and his ERA rose from 2.62 to 3.23.
Ryu had just one strikeout and issued a season-high three walks.
Ryu was holding steady until things fell apart in the fateful sixth inning, when he gave up a grand slam to the light-hitting catcher Martin Maldonado. The No. 9 hitter entered this game batting only .156 with three home runs in 42 games this season.
Ryu also allowed a solo home run to Carlos Correa in the fifth inning. It was the first start this year in which Ryu served up more than one home run.
Ryu made quick work of the Astros in the opening two innings, retiring the first six batters in order on 22 pitches.
The Astros made Ryu work in the third inning. The left-hander gave up a one-out infield single and walked Jose Altuve on seven pitches after going ahead 0-2. Ryu battled Correa to seven more pitches before getting him to pop out to first. He needed 24 pitches to get out of that inning.
Ryu and his Houston counterpart, Zack Greinke, traded zeroes early in a pitching duel, and Ryu blinked first in the fourth inning.
He gave up a leadoff single to Aledmys Diaz, who took second base when left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. made a poor throw back into the infield. Diaz scored the game's first run on a one-out double by Yordan Alvarez.
The Astros tacked on a couple more runs in the fifth inning. Myles Straw doubled to begin the inning and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Altuve. Correa then smacked a solo home run to left field to put the Astros up 3-0.
Yuli Gurriel started the sixth-inning rally with a double. Alvarez walked, and two batters later, Chas McCormick also got a free pass to load the bases.
Straw hit a shallow fly ball to right, not deep enough for a sacrifice, but Maldonado made it all moot when he jumped on a first-pitch changeup and drove it over the left field wall for a 7-0 Houston lead.
Ryu's night was done as Carl Edwards Jr. came on to finish off the messy inning.
The Astros pounded out four home runs as part of their 16-hit explosion in the rout. They entered this game leading the American League with 292 runs, 508 hits and a .264 batting average
This was Ryu's first start at Sahlen Field this year. The Blue Jays moved to the Buffalo stadium, home of their Triple-A affiliate, at the start of this month, after opening the season at another minor league facility, TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida.
With the Canada-U.S. border closed to nonessential travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Blue Jays haven't been allowed to play at Rogers Centre in Toronto since last year.
Ryu was 2-0 with a 2.10 ERA in five starts at Sahlen Field last year.
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