The Dodgers are the hottest zombies in the Major Leagues.
After having been written off as dead in the water — Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times wrote on June 21 that they were “the most disappointing team in baseball” — they have come back to life with a vengeance. I have completely lost count of how many games the Dodgers have won since then (I think it’s like 28 or 29), but I know there have only been six losses. That’s, like, insane!
Dodger pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu won the game on which all Korean eyes were focussed.
Yesterday, Hyun-Jin Ryu won the Korean war, and he did it in style! Against the Cincinnati Reds and Ryu’s fellow countryman Shin-Soo Choo, Ryu went seven innings, giving up only one run on two hits and striking out nine as the Dodgers beat the Reds, 4-1, at the Ravine.
The Reds’ Shin-Soo Choo has played in the majors since 2005 with a career .289 batting average.
The game — played on the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice — brought out tons of Korean baseball lovers, media and photographers. Ryu and Choo had played together on the Korean World Baseball Championship team, but never against each other in the major leagues.
Don Mattingly, asked before the game if he was worried Ryu would be too nervous to pitch well, said, “No. If anything, I expect he’ll rise to the occasion.” Well, that he did, Donny-boy, that he did.
And the Dodgers continue their phenomenal domination of the past few weeks. On Friday, they squeaked out a 2-1 win on a two-run homer by Hanley Ramirez and sensational pitching by the man, Clayton Kershaw. He just keeps getting better and better.
Piewalla's Dodger Blues 