Ryu Hyun-jin looks for his second win against Boston Red Sox

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin is looking for his second win of the season against the prestigious Boston Red Sox. Ryu will start in a road game against the Red Sox at the Fenway Park in Boston at 8:10 a.m. on Wednesday (KST). After earning his 60th career win in Major League Baseball (MLB) against the New York Yankees on last Wednesday, Ryu is on his way to grab another win of the season. As a Blue Jays ace, Ryu is tasked with breaking the team’s losing streak.

The Red Sox, however, has the strongest hitters in the league. As of Tuesday, Boston have a team batting average of 0.288 and a team OPS of 0.818, the highest among 30 MLB clubs. Having won nine straight games, the Red Sox are the current leader in the American League (AL) East with 11 wins and six losses. It is an unexpected feat considering that the ESPN put the Red Sox at 19th in its MLB Power Rankings before the season start. Hitters to look out for include J.D. Martinez (six homers and 20 RBIs), who is tied for first in RBIs and home runs, and Xander Bogaerts (0.386), who stands at fourth in batting average.

While Ryu played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he recorded a loss and an average ERA of 3.00 in two matches against the Red Sox. At the Fenway Park, Ryu registered seven hits and two runs in seven innings without winning or losing in July. In both of the cases, the South Korean pitcher allowed runs in the first inning. Since he has not allowed runs in the first inning this season, he can easily do well if he gets off to a good start. Eyes are on whether Ryu will focus on high fastballs and low change-ups since Boston has many right-handed hitters. Boston catcher Kevin Plawecki has been strong against Ryu with a batting average of 0.667.

Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez will start against the Blue Jays. Rodriguez was unable to pitch for the Red Sox last season after testing positive for COVID-19 and being diagnosed with myocarditis. He has earned two wins and recorded an average ERA of 3.60 in two games this season.


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com