Ryu Hyun-jin roughed up on KBO return as Landers, Lions, Tigers take early lead

Baseball

Published: 25 Mar. 2024, 10:00 Updated: 25 Mar. 2024, 17:46

Ryu Hyun-jin roughed up on KBO return as Landers, Lions, Tigers take early lead

Hanwha Eagles starter Ryu Hyun-jin reacts after allowing a hit in the fourth inning of a game against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Saturday. [YONHAP]

Ryu Hyun-jin was welcomed back with a loss to mark his return to the KBO on Saturday as the SSG Landers, Samsung Lions and Kia Tigers rose to the top of the KBO pack over opening weekend.

Ryu was roughed up in his KBO outing since 2012, giving up five runs on six hits with three walks and no strikeouts in three and two third innings of work, taking the L in an 8-2 loss to reigning the KBO champion LG Twins.

"I was a bit nervous. This felt different than a preseason game," Ryu said after the game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul, according to Yonhap News Agency. "I wanted to do well because this was the first game of the new season."

Ryu relied on fastballs in a three up, three down first inning, but struggled to locate as he began to dig deeper into his repertoire in the second inning.

“This game reminded me how important command is for pitchers,” he said. “Velocity is not that important. I think my fastball was pretty good early on, but I left some pitches over the middle of the plate in my last inning. And I didn't have great command of my breaking balls."

A sell-out crowd packs into Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul to watch the LG Twins host the Hanwha Eagles on Opening Day of the 2024 KBO season on Saturday. [NEWS1]

The Eagles followed up Saturday’s game with an 8-4 win over the Twins on Sunday to tie the opening series 1-1, putting both teams tied for fourth place alongside the NC Dinos and Doosan Bears, who also split their series.

The Landers and Lions were the only two teams to sweep their opening series, the Landers beating the Lotte Giants 5-3 on Saturday and 7-6 on Sunday, with the Lions beating the KT Wiz 6-2 on Saturday and 11-8 on Sunday.

The Landers’ slugging prowess played a large part in their victory, with the KBOs all-time career runs scored leader, hitting a long ball in both games. The Giants held their own offensively, hitting six runs in a huge ninth inning to tie things up on Sunday, only for Guillermo Heredia to hit a walk-off home run at the bottom of the inning.

The Wiz enjoyed a similar huge inning at the end of their clash with the Lions on Sunday, batting in seven to cut the lead from 11-1 to 11-8, but proving unable to catch up with the Lions’ lead.

The Kia Tigers join the Landers and Lions tied for first with a perfect 1.000 winning percentage, despite having played only one game against the Kiwoom Heroes on Saturday.

The Tigers won that game 7-5 after capitalizing on a huge five-run first inning, and the cancelation on Sunday pushes the Heroes down to tie for eighth place with the Giants and Wiz.

The Dinos and Bears split their series, the Dinos coming from behind to win 4-3 on opening day, with the Bears taking the second game 6-3 on Sunday.

The KBO announced shortly before the season started that the pitch clock would be turned on for the season but not enforced for a trial period.

According to statistical analysis by Sports Chosun’s Pae Ji-heon, had the clock been on, the Landers-Giants series would have been hit by a total of 54 violations, 30 by the Giants and 24 by the Landers, while at the other end of the spectrum, the Lions-Wiz series would have had just two, both by the Lions.

The KBO returns Tuesday with the Twins, Landers, Dinos, Wiz and Tigers all remaining at home. The Twins host the Lions at Jamsil, the Eagles take on the Landers in Incheon, the Heroes head to Changwon, South Gyeongsang to face the Dinos, the Bears visit the Wiz in Suwon, Gyeonggi and the Giants play the Tigers in Gwangju.

The five road clubs will get their first home games of the season over the weekend. The Bears host the Tigers at Jamsil, the Dinos travel up the road to Busan to face the Giants, the Landers head south to Daegu to face the Lions, the Twins face the Heroes in western Seoul and the Wiz take on the Eagles in Daejeon.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]