Ryu Hyun-jin earns win in first start in 24 days

Making his first start in nearly a month, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers earned a victory against the New York Mets on the road on Wednesday.

Ryu improved to 4-2 on the season after giving up two earned runs on nine hits in six innings and striking out a season-high nine batters at Citi Field. The Dodgers defeated the Mets 4-3, powered by three solo home runs from the heart of their order.

Ryu's ERA remained at 3.00. All four of his wins this year have come away from Dodger Stadium.

This was Ryu's first start since April 27 against the Colorado Rockies. He'd been on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation but made a solid return to the rotation against the Mets.

Ryu left the game at the start of the seventh in favor of Brandon League, after throwing 89 pitches, 60 of them for strikes.

Ryu had a breezy start to the game, striking out six through the first three innings while scattering four singles. He also got out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the third by striking out Curtis Granderson.

The Dodgers' cleanup Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo home run in the top second to give Ryu an early lead. Then in the top sixth, Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez, LA's No. 2 and No. 3 hitters, launched back-to-back solo shots to give Ryu a 3-0 cushion.

The South Korean left-hander almost lost the lead in the home half of the sixth, when Eric Campbell belted a two-run shot to left to make it a 3-2 affair.

The home run snapped Ryu's scoreless streak on the road at 33 2/3 innings, dating back to Sept. 24 last year.

Otherwise, Ryu showed few ill effects of shoulder problems and clocked 94 miles per hour with his fastball against the Mets, which entered the game with the second-worst team batting average in the National League with .231.

Ryu allowed a single in each of the first three innings, and then retired the side in order in the fourth. In the fifth, the Mets' starting pitcher Jacob DeGrom led off with a single but Ryu induced Juan Lagares into a double play. Daniel Murphy then grounded out to second to end the inning.

Ryu finally cracked in the sixth. Ryu erased a David Wright single by getting Chris Young to ground into a double play. Then Granderson hit a single, and Campbell followed up with his first career big league homer.

Wilmer Flores hit a single to keep the pressure on Ryu, but the lefty struck out Anthony Recker to prevent further damage. Recker was the last batter Ryu would face on this night, with League coming in relief in the seventh.

The Dodgers added to their slim lead in the top eighth, as Chone Figgins hit a double and later scored on a grounder by Ramirez.

The Mets failed to score with runners on second and third in the bottom seventh. The Mets got one back in the bottom ninth, after Lagares hit a triple and came home on Murphy's groundout, but couldn't get pull even against the Dodgers' closer Kenley Jansen.

The Mets outhit the Dodgers 13-5 in the loss. (Yonhap)