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Ryu picks up MLB career win No. 20

June 1, 2014

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, of South Korea, throws to the Pittsburgh Pirates during first inning of a baseball in Los Angeles, Saturday, May 31, 2014. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

By Lee Kyutae

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers cruised to one of the easiest wins of his Major League career. Just after four innings, the score was already 11-1 in his favor.

With the game well in hand early, Ryu ended up allowing a season-high 20 hits over six innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates home, but he did manage to limit the damage to just two runs.

He struck out four while walking none, as the Dodgers hammered the Pirates 12-2 at Dodger Stadium to snap their three-game slide on Saturday.

Ryu improved to 6-2 this year with his third straight victory, and his ERA went slightly down from 3.10 to 3.09.

More importantly, it was his career win No. 20 in the Major Leagues.

The Dodgers gave Ryu an early two-run cushion in the bottom of the first, on run-scoring singles by Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp.

That lead grew to 6-0 after a four-run third. The Pirates got one run back in the top fourth when Jordy Mercer doubled to left, but the Dodgers came back with five more runs in the bottom half of the inning to blow the game wide open, highlighted by Ramirez’s two-run blast.

Ryu allowed his second run of the day in the top sixth on a single by Travis Snider, but the Dodgers still led 12-2 when he was relieved by Jamey Wright to start the seventh. It ended up being the final score, as the Dodgers moved to 30-27 on the year.

Ryu allowed a base runner in every inning except for third, but the Pirates failed to capitalize. In the fifth, a single and a double put runners on second and third with nobody out, but Ryu escaped unscathed.