Unwavering in the face of crisis

Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu, 36, of the Toronto Blue Jays, showed off his crisis management skills. On April 18, he started a home game against the Boston Red Sox in the MLB and pitched four and two-thirds innings, allowing six hits, two walks, and no runs with two strikeouts. With his team leading 1-0 and runners on second and third in the top of the fifth inning, he was removed for reliever Yimi Garcia (33-Dominican Republic) when his pitch count exceeded 80 (83). Ryu walked off the mound with a slight smile on his face, although he was one out shy of the win requirement. Garcia worked out of the jam, and Ryu’s ERA did not increase. He remained 3-3 on the season and lowered his ERA from 2.93 to 2.62 with 35 strikeouts.

Ryu’s fastball touched 146 kilometers per hour on the day. In addition to his fastball (37), Ryu threw 83 pitches, including a changeup (19), curveball (13), cut fastball (12), and sinking fastball (2). He struck out the side in the first inning, but gave up hits and walks the rest of the way, leaving runners in scoring position. In particular, he gave up back-to-back singles to start the second and third innings, putting runners on second and third with no outs, but he was able to get the bases loaded at crucial times. In the fourth inning, an infield error put runners on first and third with no outs.

According to MLB.com, Red Sox batters swung at Ryu’s changeup 11 times, with one of those swings resulting in a hit. Ryu held runners in scoring position to a .200 batting average in seven starts from last month, when he returned from elbow surgery, through March 13 against the Texas Rangers. It’s the second-lowest since his MLB debut (2013). Even when he led the league in ERA (2.32) in 2019, he ranked 22nd overall in batting average (.234), but had a .186 batting average against with runners in scoring position. That’s crunch time.토토사이트

With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Matt Chapman (30) hit a game-tying RBI single with the bases loaded to give the Blue Jays a thrilling 3-2 victory. The Blue Jays won their 83rd game of the season (67-67, .553 winning percentage) and moved into sole possession of the second American League wild-card spot, which allows for “fall baseball,” overtaking the Texas Rangers, who lost 9-2 to the Cleveland Indians earlier in the day. “I thought we were going to give up a run (with runners on second and third in the second inning),” Ryu said. “I was focused on minimizing the runs, but shortstop Bo Bissett made a great catch (of a runner rushing home) that changed the game.” “It was a combination of pitches,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider, 43, said of the switch, “and Ryu is a guy who can make good pitches in big moments.” Ryu’s next start will be on April 24 against the Tampa Bay Rays.