Blue Jays: Hyun-Jin Ryu tosses a gem against the New York Yankees

Facing the New York Yankees for a second time this season, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched well, keeping a tough team from putting up more than two runs on the scoreboard throughout both of these outings.

In his third start of the year and his first in the Blue Jays “home away from home” in Dunedin, Florida, Ryu would pitch 6.2 innings while allowing one run (unearned) off four hits with seven strikeouts and surrendering just one walk.

Most notably, the southpaw was able to get most of the prominent Yankees hitters to strike out like D.J. LeMahieu, Aaron Judge, and Gary Sanchez, while also getting Clint Frazier visibly frustrated when he was sent back to the dugout (he was not so happy with the umpires call behind the plate). The Blue Jays ace was also able to get Rougned Odor and Giancarlo Stanton to both hit into double plays and would finish the game just one out short of pitching seven full innings.

With yesterday’s outing, Ryu gets his first win of the season and moves to a 1-1 record early in the season. He also now sees his ERA drop to 1.89 and has 19 strikeouts on the season with just two walks and a 0.89 WHIP.

More from Toronto Blue Jays News

• Matt Chapman has been exactly what the Blue Jays needed
• Blue Jays: The goalposts are moving in the right direction
• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King

What is most impressive with his most recent outing is that he is facing a very powerful Yankees lineup for the second time within a two-week span and was able to use his fastball and his well-placed off-speed pitches to keep the opposing team uncomfortable and most importantly off the scoreboard.

While Ryu did give up a few hits during his outing, he never made a mistake pitch that cost the Blue Jays in the form of a home run or a gap hit that brought in runners who were on base. Overall, it was a great outing considering he just recently faced pretty much the exact same lineup and was able to use his full arsenal well.

Ryu is locked in early this season, which is good to see considering Steven Matz is also performing well to begin his Blue Jays career. With the recent return of Robbie Ray, the promising return of Nate Pearson in the near future, and Tanner Roark moved to the bullpen, the Toronto Blue Jays rotation is starting to take shape and can hopefully keep producing at the same rate throughout the season.