Everything went well for the Dodgers on Tuesday night. From the pitching to the hitting to the fielding, everyone was locked in. Leading the way for the team was pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu. He had himself (yet another) great outing. Ryu pitched the second complete game shutout of his career while recording the first for the Dodgers since Clayton Kershaw did so in 2016. Hyun Jin-Ryu becomes the first Dodger pitcher other than Clayton Kershaw during Dave Roberts tenure to pitch a complete game shutout. Clayton Kershaw had his CG SO...May 23, 2016 vs Reds. — David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) May 8, 2019 The “Korean Monster” was perfect through the first five innings of the contest, until Braves catcher Matt Flowers hit a base hit to lead off the sixth inning. Flowers’ base hit was just one of four total hits Ryu would allow on Tuesday evening. With Ryu so dominant against the Braves, the Dodgers were the ones that got all the fun on offense. Well ... Justin Turner had most of the fun. After getting off to a rather slow start this season, Turner got his chance to be the star at the plate. He knocked three home runs in the Dodgers’ victory - the first 3 HR night of his career. He went 4-for-5 on the night, driving in 6 out of 9 total runs scored for the Dodgers. The Dodgers found the first inning successful, scoring three runs off of lefty Max Fried. Fried, however, wouldn’t be in the game for much longer. Alex Verdugo smacked a line drive straight into Fried’s pitching hand to lead off the second inning. Max Fried exits the game after being hit with this line drive. The left-hander threw two warmup pitches before @Braves pitching coach Rick Kranitz stepped in and sent him to get evaluated. pic.twitter.com/autE82E2mj — FOX Sports South (@FOXSportsSouth) May 8, 2019 Fried would exit the game after one inning pitched and would be credited for the loss after allowing four earned runs. Though the Dodger bats showed up to give Ryu the run support he needed and deserved, the defense also had his back. Cody Bellinger went 2-for-5 at the plate, but his biggest contribution of the night was making a catch down by his feet to preserve Ryu’s shutout in the seventh inning. Hakuna Matata. It means no worries. pic.twitter.com/ziV7hua6Xj — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 8, 2019 Overall, it was a pretty clean-cut game in Los Angeles. If you’re a Dodgers fan, of course. Tuesday particulars WP: Hyun-Jin Ryu (4-1), 9 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 6 K LP: Max Fried (4-2), 1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 K Home runs: Justin Turner, 3 (4) Up next Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers will close out the three-game set against the Braves on Wednesday. The Braves will send right-handed pitcher Mike Foltynewicz to the mound to face off Kershaw.<doc-sep>The Los Angeles Dodgers entered Tuesday's game against the Atlanta Braves with the largest division lead in the National League, two games up on the Arizona Diamondbacks. A decisive win paired with a Diamondbacks loss means the Dodgers will now head into Wednesday's series finale with a three-game cushion. They have some familiar faces to thank for that. Third baseman and suspected man-wolf Justin Turner was the offensive star of the game. He homered three times (becoming the fourth player to do so this season) as part of a four-hit, six-RBI effort. Turner had entered the night with just one home run over his first 146 plate appearances, a power drought that left him with a .347 slugging percentage, the lowest among healthy Dodgers regulars. How much did Tuesday's game change things? Turner now has a .434 slugging percentage -- that's an 87-point increase … in one game. Yowza. While Turner's slugging went up, Hyun-Jin Ryu's ERA went down. The veteran southpaw threw his second career shutout, limiting the Braves to four hits and registering six strikeouts. He's now up to five quality starts in seven tries and has a 2.03 ERA on the season. Ryu actually recorded a Maddux (a complete-game shutout in fewer than 100 pitches), as he required only 93 pitches to go coast-to-coast in the 9-0 win. He generated nine whiffs, including three on his signature changeup. Nearly three-fourths of his pitches were strikes, a testament to how locked in he is mechanically. Ryu entered the night leading all starters with 30 or more innings in strikeout-to-walk ratio, at 19.5. No other starter was over the 10.00 threshold. After Tuesday's game, Ryu is now at 22.5. It's fair to say Ryu is in control -- and right now, when it comes to the West, so are the Dodgers.<doc-sep>It was approaching 10 p.m. and Hyun-Jin Ryu was still on the mound at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, attempting to complete a game for the first time since his rookie season of 2013 when he arrived in Los Angeles from South Korea. His parents, wife and a group of friends were in attendance. Suga, a K-Pop star, was looking on in Ryu’s No. 99 jersey. They were among the few thousand people remaining who roared when Ryu got two strikes on Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman with a runner on second. They roared louder when Freeman flailed at a fastball up out of the zone for strike three, sealing the Dodgers’ 9-0 win over the Braves. Justin Turner fueled Ryu’s run support, slugging three home runs — two solo shots and a three-run blast — in a game for the first time in his career. The effort quadrupled Turner’s home runs this season — he entered the night with one in 146 plate appearances. He added an RBI single and finished with a career-high six runs batted in, hiking his season total from 11 to 17. Now that April’s over, Dodgers’ Justin Turner is hitting home runs again » Advertisement “I have felt better the last couple weeks,” Turner said. “I feel like I’ve been hitting some balls hard and tonight I finally got a couple up in the air.” Ryu recorded his third career complete game and second shutout with 93 pitches, a ruthless efficiency the Braves (18-18) could not derail. It was the Dodgers’ first complete game since Rich Hill’s performance in a 10-inning loss to Pittsburgh in August 2017, and the first shutout by a Dodgers pitcher not named Clayton Kershaw since Josh Beckett accomplished the feat in May 2014. Ryu maintained a perfect game until Tyler Flowers poked a single through the left side to lead off the sixth inning. He gave up three more hits and struck out six. His earned-run average dropped to 2.03. He hasn’t walked a batter at Dodger Stadium since Aug. 26 — a span of 63 innings and nine starts. He contributed a bloop single to top it off. Dodgers starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) “Today’s actually my mom’s birthday,” Ryu said through an interpreter, “so I think I was able to provide a good gift.” The combination extended the Dodgers’ home winning streak to nine games. At 24-14, they’re 10 games over .500 for the first time. They weren’t 10 games over .500 last season until their 94th game on July 13. Sign up for our Dodgers newsletter » Tuesday’s pitching matchup was a duel between left-handers with two of the stingiest walk rates in baseball. Ryu entered tops in that department, having issued two walks en route to posting a 2.55 ERA in 35-1/3 innings. On the other side, Max Fried ranked tied for ninth, having walked seven batters in 38-1/3 innings, and none in his previous two starts, while recording a 2.11 ERA. Advertisement While Ryu was able to sustain his excellence, Fried, a Los Angeles native and Studio City Harvard-Westlake graduate, endured a forgettable debut at Dodger Stadium. The 25-year-old battled command trouble from the outset. First, he allowed a home run to the second batter he faced, Turner. After Cody Bellinger singled and Chris Taylor worked a two-out walk, Max Muncy knocked a two-run single to give Los Angeles a quick 3-0 lead. Fried tossed 31 pitches in that rough first inning. His 35th pitch was a 94-mph fastball that Alex Verdugo lined back at him to lead off the bottom of the second. The ball bounced off Fried’s hand and Verdugo sprinted for an infield single. Fried tested the hand with two pitches before he walked off the mound, ending his brief homecoming in disappointment and leaving the Braves bullpen to cover at least seven innings. X-rays on Fried’s hand were negative, the Braves announced. He was diagnosed with a bruise. Ryu, meanwhile, was dominant and got some help. Second baseman Muncy aided his effort in the fifth inning with a diving stop on Nick Markakis’ groundball in shallow right field. His throw reached a rumbling Ryu in stride as the pitcher stepped on first just ahead of Markakis for the second out. Advertisement Ryu emerged from the inning having thrown 54 pitches. He was perfect for two more before Flowers spoiled his pursuit of perfection. The baserunner was erased with a double play to end the inning, leaving Ryu with the minimum faced through six. The Dodgers’ defense assisted Ryu again in the seventh inning when Bellinger, who missed two games last weekend after separating his right shoulder, stumbled and tumbled to the ground on the shoulder making a catch for the third out. “Cody made a play,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “that I don’t think anyone else in baseball can make.” Advertisement While the effort unnerved Roberts for a moment, it also saved a run and kept the shutout intact. Ryu was at 71 pitches by then. A complete game was within reach and Ryu didn’t slow down. jorge.castillo@latimes.com Twitter: @jorgecastillo<doc-sep>If you were at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night, consider yourself lucky. Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched a stellar game, Justin Turner hit three home runs, a BTS pop star was in attendance and it was $1 Dodger Dog night. Hyun-Jin Ryu’s night It was just the second time Ryu threw a complete game shutout in his major league career. This is yet another of many great outings he’s had so far this season. Hyun-Jin Ryu has the Dodgers' first complete game since Aug. 23, 2017 (Rich Hill at Pit.) and first complete game shutout by a Dodger at Dodger Stadium since May 23, 2016 (Kershaw vs. Cin.). — Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) May 8, 2019 Fans in attendance were quite happy, might I add. I just witnessed Ryu toss a Maddux against the Braves. Poetic justice. #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/WTIpOgbzqq — Eric Monacelli (@ermonacelli) May 8, 2019 A complete game shutout for Hyun-jin on 93 pitches! Final Line: 9IP 4H 0R 0ER 0BB 6K, 93-67 Ryu now has 45 Ks and only 2 walks this season. Wow. pic.twitter.com/yILnkgtHyt — True Blue LA (@truebluela) May 8, 2019 Justin Turner ’s dingers After Turner got off to a slow start to the season, he found his groove. And then some. Pretty special night. Ryu is a joy to watch. Turner... You knew it was coming sooner rather than later, but 3 in 1 game?? Man, baseball is the best. #dodgers — Joe Davis (@Joe_Davis) May 8, 2019 He and Ryu made for some great baseball. These guys made it look easy. pic.twitter.com/TM5PYRlHGu — MLB (@MLB) May 8, 2019 “You know, [I’m] just coming in every day and trying to make adjustments and get a good feeling back,” Turner said after the game. “And I have felt better the last couple weeks. I feel like [I’ve] been hitting a lot of balls hard. And tonight, finally got a couple out in the air.” Justin Turner had his first three-homer game and a career-high six RBI, but he still gave all the credit to teammate Hyun-Jin Ryu. Here’s his postgame comments: #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/gtln1iXozn — Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) May 8, 2019 Yoongi (Suga) from BTS went out to the ballgame If you didn’t already know, there was someone rather famous in attendance on Tuesday night. 47,337 in attendance including members of K-Pop group #BTS to watch the "Korean Monster" Hyun-Jin Ryu throw a gem. #Dodgers — Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) May 8, 2019 Yoongi was in town for the start of the BTS “Love Yourself” world tour at the Rose Bowl this past weekend. The two Korean natives met up after the game. Yoongi meeting the Korean Monster. pic.twitter.com/dki4D8psJ6 — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 8, 2019 In case you were wondering what he said in the video, he said he visited Dodger Stadium five years ago, but Kershaw was pitching. Name a more iconic duo, we’ll wait. pic.twitter.com/Ae8H4Fb9kr — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 8, 2019 The BTS army was very excited to follow his visit. y’all here’s an exclusive video of yoongi at the dodgers game today because my friend is there and she got to see him pic.twitter.com/z3vn2b9qPW — ᵍʳᵃᶜᵉ saw bts (@chanvtae) May 8, 2019 $1 Dodger Dog night Dodger Dogs cost as much as a street taco? There must have been some interesting things happening in the stands. Some guy just got escorted out of reserve to a standing ovation. Why was he escorted out? Because he was tossing Dodger Dogs to the crowd. — Vincent Samperio (@VinceSamperio) May 8, 2019 The Oprah Winfrey of Dodger Stadium ... “everyone gets a Dodger Dog!” A hero. Another hero? The Dodgers executive chef. $1 Dodger Dog night #2 57,752 Dodger Dogs sold and the winner is @brookeschneid21 with a guess of 57,629 missing by 123 second place was @mohershfield with a guess of 57,250 missing by 502 better luck next time. — Ryan Evans (@LADExecChef) May 8, 2019 You weren’t able to attend $1 Dodger Dog night? Don’t worry. There’s one more this season. Grab your tickets for Tuesday, May 28 vs. the Mets here!<doc-sep>
Justin Turner had a career-high three home runs and six RBIs, and Hyun-Jin Ryu threw his first complete game since his rookie year to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 9-0 win against the visiting Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. Ryu (4-1) did not allow a base runner through five innings before finishing with a four-hitter, striking out six and walking none. His last complete covered eight innings in a 2-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in September 2013. In May of that season, he pitched a nine-inning 2-0 shutout over the visiting Los Angeles Angels. Turner finished with four hits, and Cody Bellinger, Alex Verdugo and Max Muncy added two each for the Dodgers, who have not lost a series to the Braves since July 2015. Atlanta starter Max Fried entered the day with the second-lowest ERA in the majors among left-handers at 2.11. The Los Angeles-area native had not allowed a run in any of the first three innings this season, but gave up three in the first inning of his first appearance at Dodger Stadium. Fried (4-2) departed after getting hit on the throwing hand by a comebacker to start the second inning. After Turner homered with one out in the first for a 1-0 lead, the Dodgers tacked on two more runs when Muncy pulled a hard grounder into the shift on the right side and it got past Atlanta shortstop Dansby Swanson. Bellinger scored easily and Taylor followed him home, barely beating Swanson's throw to make it 3-0. Fried was then knocked out of the game on Verdugo's line-drive comebacker. X-rays on his hand came back negative, and he's day-to-day with a contusion, according to the Braves. Josh Tomlin replaced Fried and gave up a single to Turner, scoring Verdugo for a 4-0 lead. Turner homered again to lead off the fifth to make it 5-0. Ryu retired the first 15 batters before Tyler Flowers grounded a single through the left side to begin the sixth. The Dodgers made it 6-0 in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Enrique Hernandez before Turner stretched it to 9-0 with his third homer, a three-run shot, later in the inning. --Field Level Media