Hyun-jin Ryu wins his first game of the season with 5-3 win over Phillies

LOS ANGELES —- The Dodgers got their first series sweep with a 5-3 win over the Phillies on Sunday. Kenley Jansen had to get the last out to record his seventh save of the season.

Hyun-jin Ryu followed his best start of the season last Monday with another solid one today at Dodger Stadium. Ryu got his first win since August 31, 2014 and the significance of that was recognized by him.

“Today is definitely a milestone for me just because it almost a 1000 days since I had a W under my belt, so it is definitely a milestone,” said Ryu, “I’d like to build off this moment and always put the team in a position where we can win.”

Ryu pitched 5⅓ innings and giving up one run, three hits, three walks and striking out nine. The last time Ryu struck out nine batters was on September 6, 2014 against Arizona.

“He threw the ball well,” said manager Dave Roberts, “there was a compete in there, the pitch mix was really good, the change was good and you know, I thought he pitched well.”

“My off-speed has been working pretty well for the last couple of games,” Ryu said, “curveball particularly today, I had pretty good angle and spin on it so that is why I used it in crucial moments today.”

From the second through the fifth innings, Ryu retired 12 out of 14 batters, the only two hitters that gone on base were via a ground-rule double and a walk.

In the sixth, Ryu walked Freddy Galvis and then struck out Daniel Nava. Sergio Romo then came in to relieve Ryu and he struck out the next two batters. “We could have tried to get him through that sixth right there but I just felt that I liked Romo with those next two guys, Roberts said, “I thought it was a really good outing for Hyun-jin.”

Nick Pivetta made his major league debut against the Dodgers and he was able to survive giving up nine hits in his five innings of work by stranding six runners and giving up two hits in nine at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The Phillies scored the game’s first run. Cesar Hernandez hit a fly ball that was briefly in Yasiel Puig’s glove but eventually went for a triple. Freddy Galvis followed up immediately with a single to score Hernandez. Ryu walked Daniel Nava to put runners on first and second but then he retired the next three in a row with no one else scoring.

The Dodgers scored the tying run in the bottom of the first, Andrew Toles hit a ground-rule double and Cody Bellinger moved him to third with an infield single. Justin Turner extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a single to drive in Toles. Turner would go on to get two more hits which brought this update by Ryan Walton.

In the second inning, Chris Taylor hit his second home run of the season to give the Dodgers the lead. However, the Dodgers missed additional chances to score in the second, third, and fifth innings.

The Dodgers got some breathing room in the sixth inning, Yasmani Grandal singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. With two out, Chase Utley pinch-hit for Romo and walked. Toles followed with a three-run home run to make it 5-1.

Luis Avilan pitched around a two-out double to throw a scoreless seventh. Pedro Baez picked up in the eighth inning. Baez gave up two walks but got a looping liner to Adrian Gonzalez to end the inning.

Grant Dayton got the first two outs in the night but a two-run home run by Odubel Herrera made it a two-run game. That was when Jansen entered the game and he got the last out to save the series sweep.

Up next

Dodgers begin May with three-game series at home against the San Francisco Giants and what a marquee pitching matchup there will be to start that series. Clayton Kershaw will go against Johnny Cueto with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

Sunday particulars

Home runs: Chris Taylor (2), Andrew Toles

WP - Hyun-jin Ryu (1-4): 5⅓ IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 9 strikeouts

LP - Nick Pivetta (0-1): 5 IP, 9 hits, 2 runs, 5 strikeouts

Save - Kenley Jansen (7): ⅓ IP, 1 strikeout