Ryu Hyun-jin hit hard in loss

DETROIT (Yonhap) ― Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers was mauled by the Detroit Tigers on the road on Tuesday, suffering his fifth loss of 2014 after blowing an early lead in one of his worst outings of the season.

Ryu was tagged for seven earned runs on 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings at Comerica Park, as the Tigers routed the Dodgers 14-5.

Ryu dropped to 9-5 on the year and his ERA went up from 3.08 to 3.65.

Jamey Wright relieved the South Korean left-hander with one out and runners on the corners in the bottom of the third, with the Tigers up 6-5. Austin Jackson hit a sacrifice fly off Wright to make it 7-5 for the Tigers through three innings.

The Tigers pounded four L.A. relievers for seven more runs. They had 20 hits in the game, and five different players, including the two-time reigning American League MVP Miguel Cabrera, had three hits apiece.

Ryu was far from the road warrior that he’d been all season.

Prior to Tuesday, Ryu was 6-1 with a 1.62 ERA in eight starts away from Los Angeles.

The Tigers entered the game with the American League-leading .275 team batting average.

The Dodgers staked Ryu a 5-0 cushion in the top of the first. Adrian Gonzalez opened the scoring with a two-run double off Detroit starter Justin Verlander and Matt Kemp drove him home with a single. Two batters later, Juan Uribe launched a two-run homer, the fourth Dodger hit of the opening frame.

Just when it seemed Ryu would cruise to his 10th victory of the season, the Tigers ate into the Dodgers lead in the second.

Torii Hunter led off the frame with a double off the right field wall. Alex Avila later drove Hunter home with a single, and the floodgates opened. Rajai Davis’ infield single to shortstop Miguel Rojas made it a 5-2 affair. With the bases full, Ryu threw a wild pitch to let in another run.

Ryu struck out Austin Jackson, but then Ian Kinsler delivered an RBI single to bring the Tigers to 5-4. Cabrera’s single tied the score at 5-5. J.D. Martinez had another single to load the bases again, before Ryu got Hunter to hit into an inning-ending double play.

When the dust settled, Ryu gave up eight hits in the second inning and needed 36 pitches to get out of the ugly frame.

Ryu got into even more trouble to begin the third, as Nick Castellanos led off with a double and Avila drew a walk. After a sacrifice bunt, Davis drove in the go-ahead run with a single to right.

The hit ended Ryu’s day, his shortest of the season since lasting just two innings in a loss to the San Francisco Giants on April 4.

“I didn’t have command of my pitches, and I was just busy trying to throw strikes,” he said. “I once again realized the importance of command. Even when the count was in my favor, I made mistakes. I left my pitches high in the zone.”

Ryu has one more start remaining before the All-Star break, at home against the San Diego Padres on Sunday. 


Astros hit 3 leadoff homers in win

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) ― Chris Carter is hitting under .200 this season for the Houston Astros. Still, he is hitting the ball hard ― and deep.

Carter led off two innings with home runs, George Springer had one inning-starting long ball and the Astros beat the Texas Rangers 8-3 on Tuesday night, getting a game closer to escaping the AL West cellar.

The Astros go for a three-game series sweep on Wednesday after winning only twice in 19 games against Texas last season. They have won four straight overall against their instate rival for the first time since 2002.

“It’s just nice to beat them this year,” Carter said. “They beat up on us pretty bad last year.”

Carter started the sixth with a 409-foot blast into the seats in left field to make it 4-2. Two innings later, his 17th homer of the season was almost as long ― but just cleared the wall and the outstretched glove of center fielder Leonys Martin for a 6-3 lead.

Nine of Carter’s last 17 hits have been homers. It was the third multihomer game this season for the .194 hitter.

Jose Altuve had two hits, two stolen bases and a sacrifice fly. The All-Star second baseman matched Houston’s franchise record with 28 consecutive stolen bases without being caught while pushing his AL-leading total to 41. He leads the American League with 126 hits and a .341 batting average.

Houston went ahead to stay with two runs in the first inning off Phil Irwin (0-1) who was making his Rangers debut.

Cincinnati 4, Chicago Cubs 2

Cleveland 5, NY Yankees 3

Chicago White Sox 8, Boston 3

NY Mets 8, Atlanta 3

Tampa Bay 4, Kansas City 3

Cincinnati 6, Chicago Cubs 5

Philadelphia 9, Milwaukee 7

St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 4

Colorado 2, San Diego 1

Miami 2, Arizona 1

Minnesota 2, Seattle 0

Toronto 4, LA Angels 0

Oakland 6, San Francisco 1

Baltimore at Washington ppd.