Dodgers’ Ryu Hyun-jin drops 2nd straight start

SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) — Burned by a pair of solo home runs, Los Angeles Dodgers’ South Korean hurler Ryu Hyun-jin has dropped his second straight start.

Ryu allowed three runs on eight hits in five innings against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Tuesday (local time), as the Dodgers lost the game 3-1.

Ryu fell to 4-3 for the season, and his ERA went up from 2.16 to 2.42.

In this Associated Press photo, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a pitch against the Cincinnati Reds in the bottom of the first inning of a Major League Baseball regular season game at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Sept. 11, 2018. (Yonhap)

Last week against the New York Mets, Ryu gave up 10 hits and five runs, though only one of them was earned.

Most of those hits were of soft variety, but the Reds hit Ryu hard in this one.

The left-hander worked around a one-out double by Jose Peraza in the first inning but served up a towering solo home run to Brandon Dixon in the second inning for a 1-0 Cincinnati lead.

Scott Schebler led off the third inning for the Reds with a solo home run and put the home team up 2-0. Scooter Gennett made it 3-0 in the fifth with an RBI single.

Ryu was lifted for pinch hitter Chase Utley to begin the top of the sixth.

Against Dixon, Ryu left a 1-0 cutter over the middle of the plate, and Dixon drove it to the upper deck in left.

Left-handed hitting Schebler turned on a 1-0 four-seam fastball from Ryu, who tried to jam him inside but caught too much of the plate.

Ryu has now allowed eight home runs so far in 2018. This was the second start of the season in which Ryu served up multiple home runs — he also gave up a pair against the San Francisco Giants on April 27.

Over his past four starts, a span of 23 2/3 innings, Ryu has conceded 33 hits.

Ryu did have six strikeouts against the Reds and continues to fan hitters at a career-high pace. He now has 73 Ks in 63 1/3 innings, for a strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio of 10.4.

Ryu has never struck out more than 8.2 batters per nine innings in any of his four previous seasons. He made just one appearance in 2016 and missed the entire 2015 season with shoulder and elbow injuries.