Toronto suffered a shocking four-game losing streak against Texas held at Rogers Center, their home stadium, from the 12th to the 15th (Korean time). The fourth straight loss was the fourth straight loss, but the fact that the opponent was Texas, which was competing fiercely in the American League wild card race, brought about a huge blowback.
Immediately after this four-game series ended, even Toronto-area media expressed concern that “the possibility of advancing to the postseason is disappearing.” With Tampa Bay firmly maintaining first place in the American League wild card, the remaining two spots were a match between the two teams in the West and Toronto. However, before the series, we were in almost the same position as Texas and lost 4 games in a row, so it was painful. After the game ended on the 15th, Toronto’s chances of advancing to the postseason, calculated by statistics website ‘FanGraphs’, dropped to 33.7%.
But Toronto did not give up. They revived their chances by winning all three games against Boston held from the 16th to the 18th. Coincidentally, Seattle, which had played three games in a row against the Dodgers, also suffered consecutive losses, and Texas also suffered a setback in its trip to Cleveland, resulting in a major turnaround. Based on ‘FanGraphs’ on the 17th, the probability of advancing to the postseason was 100% for Tampa Bay, 78% for Texas, 63.3% for Seattle, and 64.5% for Toronto.
And on the 18th, this probability graph fluctuated again as Toronto won a dramatic 3-2 walk-off victory over Boston. While Toronto jumped to 78.5%, Seattle fell to 52.8% and Texas fell to 71.4%. Toronto’s turnaround has begun.
The leader was Ryu Hyun-jin (36), who started the game against Boston on the 18th. Ryu Hyun-jin, who returned in August of this year after undergoing elbow ligament reconstruction surgery (Tommy John surgery) in June of last year, was one of the pillars that led the team’s last-minute turnaround with good pitching after his return. And on this day, he contributed to the team’s victory by leading the early race, which was the most important, well.
He did not complete five innings. He threw 83 pitches over 4⅔ innings, allowing 6 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 2. He also had a lot of actual runners out there. The number of players on base allowed per inning (WHIP), which was 1.05 during the season, rose to 1.12. But baseball is ultimately a sport where you have to score runs. And Ryu Hyun-jin did his part by suppressing the scoring with his amazing crisis management skills.
‘Sportsnet’, a Canadian sports network and broadcaster in charge of Toronto, expressed high expectations for Ryu Hyun-jin’s abilities even before the game. It is difficult to expect him to go more than 6 innings, but since he is showing good pitching quality, it is expected that he will win the power battle early in the game. Veteran commentator Buck Martinez of ‘Sportsnet’ said before the game, “Ryu Hyun-jin’s pitching was very good. In 8 games (after returning from Tommy John surgery), the average ERA was less than 3 runs.”
Martinez then said, “The more I pitch, the better I am. I am playing more innings. Everything is flowing smoothly. The velocity of my fastball has dropped, but the design is good. I have dropped the curve to the low 60s.” Diagnosed the secret to success.
With Boston deploying seven right-handed hitters, Ryu Hyun-jin actually had many crises that day. But he got through this crisis well together with his defenders. At the end of Ryu Hyun-jin’s pitch that day, the ‘Sportsnet’ commentator commented, “There was good pitching from Ryu Hyun-jin, and the defensive play behind him was also good.”
There was good defense from the start of the first inning. Leader Rafaela’s batted ball seemed to land in front of right field. He didn’t hit a ball that went far, but it was a ball that had a 75% chance of hitting. However, right fielder Biggio cleared this with a diving catch and helped Ryu Hyun-jin. Thanks to this defense, Ryu Hyun-jin was able to relax after ending his first inning with a three-way penalty.
After allowing an infield hit to Devers in the second inning, Ryu Hyun-jin hit a double from his ‘natural enemy’ Duvall and was driven to second and third base with no outs. Here, shortstop Bichett showed good defense. Reyes’ bold throw home when he grounded to shortstop also caught Devers at home. In fact, it was difficult to catch the ball or throw it right away because the movement line overlapped with Duval, the runner on second base. However, Bichette played good defense and helped Ryu Hyun-jin. Of course, we prevented conceding a goal.
Martinez of ‘Sportsnet’ said, “It was a very outstanding play as a shortstop, and an excellent throw,” adding, “At the same time, he made first and second base, leaving the possibility of a double play. Thanks to Bit P’s outstanding play, Boston was unable to score.” did. Ryu Hyun-jin then handled two more outs and escaped the crisis with no outs and 2nd and 3rd bases. Ryu Hyun-jin was especially grateful for this defense after the game. This means that he was drawing a scenario where he would exchange an out count and a run.
Regarding Ryu Hyun-jin, who expertly pitched even with runners on second and third base with no outs in the third inning, the ‘Sportsnet’ commentators praised him, saying, “Ryu Hyun-jin escaped a crisis for two consecutive innings,” and “It’s beautiful. A veteran pitcher escaped a difficult crisis.” didn’t In the 4th inning, Chapman’s defensive error occurred with one out, but David Schneider’s throw to first base, which skillfully avoided a runner when Maguire batted and resulted in a double play, was also good.스포츠토토
After the game, ‘TSN’ praised Ryu Hyun-jin, calling him “a master of escaping crisis.” In fact, Ryu Hyun-jin showed salty pitching on this day with no hits in 7 at-bats in scoring position. You can also check this season’s records. Ryu Hyun-jin’s hitting percentage after two outs is only 0.087. His scoring percentage also drops to 0.162. Ryu Hyun-jin’s crisis management skills saved Toronto.