Ryu Hyun-jin picks up seventh win of season vs. Rockies

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers earned his seventh win of the season on the road against the Colorado Rockies on Friday, keeping the National League's highest-scoring offense at bay.

Ryu improved to 7-2 this year after giving up two runs over six innings on eight hits at Coors Field, a notorious hitter-friendly park in Mile High City. Ryu struck out two and walked two, while lowering his ERA from 3.09 to 3.08.

This was his fourth straight victory since coming off the disabled list last month. Five of his seven wins have come away from Los Angeles.

He made 100 pitches, 62 of them for strikes, as the Dodgers snapped their two-game slide and handed the Rockies their eighth consecutive loss.

The Dodgers staked their left-handed starter to a 1-0 lead in the top first, as Dee Gordon hit a triple and came home on a grounder by Hanley Ramirez.

Drew Butera's two-out double in the second inning made it 2-0 for the Dodgers. Ryu put two runners on after two outs in the second, but induced Eddie Butler to an inning-ending groundout.

Drew Stubbs led off the fourth with a double for the Rockies, and Corey Dickerson drew a walk to put Ryu in a jam. The southpaw, however, retired the next three batters in order to escape unscathed.

Ryu helped his own cause in the top fifth. He led off the inning with a double and came around to score on Gordon's second triple of the day.

Ramirez then drove Gordon home with a single to double the Dodgers' advantage.

Gordon wasn't finished, as he batted in two more runs in the sixth with a single.

Working on a 6-0 cushion, Ryu finally cracked in the bottom half of the sixth, when Stubbs hit a solo homer to left and Charlie Culberson added another run with a triple.

Brandon League, Brian Wilson and Chris Perez worked three scoreless innings and struck out seven Rockies to preserve Ryu's victory.

The Rockies entered the game with an NL-leading .283 team batting average along with 300 runs scored.

(Yonhap)