‘Korean Monster’ Ryu Hyun-jin (Toronto Blue Jays) will once again take on the important role of starting player in an important game where the team’s fate is at stake. He must continue the current trend as miracles follow.
Toronto achieved a thrilling walk-off victory of 4-3 after a close overtime match in the 2023 Major League Baseball match against the Boston Red Sox held at the Rogers Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the 17th (Korean time).
The competition for the American League wild card ticket is so fierce that it is impossible to predict the future. Toronto didn’t seem that difficult to advance to the postseason until Ryu Hyun-jin returned to the mound. However, since Ryu Hyun-jin was accelerating his return, his position has been shaken, and to this day, fall baseball has not been confirmed.
In particular, Toronto played a four-game series with the Texas Rangers, who are fighting for the American League wild card ticket, from the 12th to the 15th, and suffered a shocking sweep, which seemed to have eliminated their chances of advancing to the postseason. However, the previous day (16th), Texas and Seattle Mariners lost side by side, and Toronto succeeded in ‘resurrecting the knight’ by catching Boston.
Due to the luck of the previous day (16th), Toronto defeated Boston for two days in a row. It was a game where you really didn’t know who would win. The early stages of the game were very intense. Boston’s ‘ace’ Chris Sale and Toronto’s ‘$63 million (approximately 83.8 billion won)’ man Chris Bassett each created a tight flow by holding down the opposing batting lineup.
In the top of the 6th inning, Boston’s leadoff hitter Willier Abreu walked and the follow-up hitter Rafael Devers attacked Bassett’s 4th pitch with a 93.7 mph four-seam fastball toward the outside strike메이저놀이터 zone, firing a two-run gun. and cracked the tight flow. Then Toronto also launched a counterattack.
Toronto’s leadoff hitter in the 7th inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., hit a solo home run by pulling a slider outside the strike zone of Sale, who was on the mound in the bottom of the 7th inning. Afterwards, the game, which seemed to lead to Boston’s victory, was balanced in the 9th inning as Toronto’s batting lineup failed to score any points.
Toronto had the last chance in the bottom of the 9th inning when Cavan Biggio hit a hit with 2 outs and runners on first base. A miracle happened here. Dalton Basho sent a ball to center field against John Schreiber, who was on the mound to end the game. At this time, Boston center fielder Sedan Raffaella misjudged the point where the batted ball fell, which led to a 1-run, tying triple.
Toronto was unable to end the game with 2 outs and 3 on base, but succeeded in pushing the game into overtime. And this time, it was Boston who scored first. Boston scored a timely hit in the top of the 12th overtime inning with one out and two on second when Pablo Reyes regained the lead. However, Toronto balanced the score at 3-3 again in the bottom of the 12th inning when Bo Bichette traded his out for a run in the 3rd base with one out.
Toronto laughs last. After Boston failed to score in the top of the 13th inning, Toronto put an end to the long game in the bottom of the 13th inning with 2 outs and runners on third base when Whit Merrifield hit a walk-off infield hit to the third baseman. And ‘heavenly luck’ followed Toronto once again. After Toronto won, Texas and Seattle bowed in a match between the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Guardians and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners.
Before today’s game, the gap between Texas and Toronto (4th), which were in second place in the American League wild card, was 1.5 games, but with Texas losing, the gap with Toronto narrowed to 0.5 games, and with Seattle losing, Toronto and the Wild jumped to third place. I was able to keep hope alive. Therefore, Ryu Hyun-jin’s role has become very important again. Ryu Hyun-jin will start the match against the Boston Red Sox at 2:37 a.m. on the 18th.
Ryu Hyun-jin, whose best pitch after returning from Tommy John surgery was 5 innings and 2 runs, recorded his first quality start (less than 3 earned runs in 6 innings) against Texas in his previous appearance, but suffered a loss because he did not receive support from the batting line. Even if the batting line is silent this time, Ryu Hyun-jin’s good pitching, allowing the least number of runs, is essential.
First of all, the performance against Boston was not bad. Ryu Hyun-jin has pitched in 6 games against Boston in his career, pitched 33⅔ innings, and has 2 wins, 2 losses, and an ERA of 4.01. Can Ryu Hyun-jin be at the forefront of Toronto’s advancement to the postseason?