Los Angeles Dodgers: Hyun-Jin Ryu looks to extend scoreless streak
By Jason Reed
After an offensive outburst and blowout win on Friday, the Los Angeles Dodgers look to continue the trend with a dominant Hyun-Jin Ryu on the mound.
The Los Angeles Dodgers walked into Pittsburgh on Friday after an off-day on Thursday and the bats exploded. Facing an opener that lasted only one-third of an inning, the Dodgers scored a combined 10 runs, five in the first, to defeat the Pirates, 10-2.
This was exactly the kind of game that the Dodgers needed after being defeated 8-1 in Tampa Bay on Wednesday. The offense was not all that impressive in that game and the bullpen allowed a seven-run seventh inning. However, it is hard to get that mad at the bullpen when the offense was bad.
David Freese had the biggest hit of the game, a grand slam in the first inning, while Cody Bellinger also homered and Joc Pederson, Austin Barnes and Max Muncy also had RBI extra-base hits.
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The offense is certainly looking for a repeat effort on Saturday to secure the series win but does not necessarily need 10 runs. On the bump for the Dodgers is Hyun-Jin Ryu, who has not allowed a run in 31 consecutive innings.
Ryu has been absolutely dominant, is on pace to be an all-star and will be in the Cy Young conversation if this production continues. The Korean southpaw has a 6-1 record with a 1.52 ERA and a 14.75 walk to strikeout ratio.
The last run Ryu allowed was in the first inning on May 1 against the San Francisco Giants on a sacrifice fly. Thus far in May, Ryu has a 0.28 ERA in 32 innings pitched.
If Ryu can throw seven scoreless innings in his next two starts in May, his 0.195 ERA in May would go down as the best May by a starting pitcher in MLB history. Nolan Ryan holds the record for the best ERA in May (with at least 45 innings pitched) with a 0.2 ERA in May of 1984.
Ryu still has two complete starts to make before that is even a conversation, so we will have to wait and see. It starts with Saturday, where Ryu will hopefully get run support to make his job easier.
As part of our Los Angeles Dodgers Beat the Streak series, here is who we think will provide some of that support.
Jason’s streak (Current streak: 1): Max Muncy
The Los Angeles Dodgers do not have a ton of regular season success against opposing pitcher, Joe Musgrove, with just a collective .227 batting average against the former World Series foe.
There is one bright spot on the roster though and that is Max Muncy, who has three hits in six at-bats against Musgrove. He has no extra-base hits or home runs, but he has shown in a small sample size that he can get on base against the right-handed pitcher.
Not only is that matchup favorable but Muncy has also been fairly hot as well. In the last 28 days, Muncy is hitting .304 with five home runs, 17 RBIs and a .921 OPS.
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He is starting to look more like 2018 Max Muncy, which means any day could be a huge day for Muncy. Tonight, we expect at least one base hit.