LOS ANGELES (AP) - Hyun-Jin Ryu is showing what he can do on the mound when he isn’t hurt.
Ryu tossed a four-hit shutout, Justin Turner homered three times and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Atlanta Braves 9-0 Tuesday night for their ninth straight win at home.
After being named the team’s opening day starter because of injuries to Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill, Ryu landed on the injured list with a left groin strain. Last season, he missed two months with a groin issue.
Turner believes that kept Ryu out of consideration for the NL Cy Young Award.
“Very underrated,” Turner said of his teammate. “I think he likes it that way. He doesn’t care about the accolades, but he deserves them.”
Ryu didn’t allow a baserunner until Tyler Flowers singled to left leading off the sixth, spoiling his bid for a perfect game that he said he wasn’t thinking about.
“He’s really good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Ryu.
Ryu (4-1) struck out five and walked none in his second career complete game shutout, putting on a show for his parents, wife and several friends on hand. His first career complete game came on May 28, 2013, also at home against the Angels.
His mother was celebrating her birthday.
“I was able to provide a good gift for her, so I’m very happy,” Ryu said through a translator.
The South Korean left-hander hasn’t given up more than two earned runs in any of his seven starts this season. He has walked just two batters in all, and none at home since Aug. 26.
“You don’t need the big power arm when you’re throwing the ball where you want to,” Turner said of Ryu.
Ryu even got his first hit of the season in the sixth, a high-arching single that dropped just inside the line in shallow right field. He struck out with the bases loaded in the eighth and was cheered walking back to the dugout.
“During batting practice I’m actually a decent hitter and can put it over the fence,” Ryu said. “Obviously, the game is different.”
Turner went 4 for 5 with a strikeout and scored three runs. He hit a solo shot in the first and led off the fifth with a blast over the wall in center, leading the crowd to chant his first name.
Turner’s three homers and six RBIs were career highs. His last blast came in the eighth, a three-run shot into the left field pavilion that extended the lead to 9-0.
The Dodgers have homered in 16 of 18 at Chavez Ravine, smashing 33 out of the park.
Atlanta sluggers Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuña Jr. were a combined 0 for 7. Freeman struck out swinging to end the game.
“Hyun-Jin was definitely efficient,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Even in the ninth inning he reached back for 92 (mph).”
Cody Bellinger robbed Acuña to end the seventh when he backhanded the ball on the run in right field and rolled over.
Braves starter Max Fried (4-2) left the game after getting hit in the left hand by a comebacker from Alex Verdugo in the second. The team said X-rays were negative and Fried was day-to-day with a contusion on his hand.
“I kind of saw it come toward me and it looked like it was coming toward my face so I just tried to protect myself and felt it hit the side of my hand,” Fried said. “Luckily, I think I knew from right when it hit that it wasn’t anything too bad, but it’s just frustrating. You never want to come out of a game like that.”
Fried gave up four runs and four hits in one-plus innings, struck out one and walked one. He had two wild pitches in the first.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: LHP Caleb Ferguson (oblique) tossed between 15 and 20 pitches in a simulated game, facing Joc Pederson and Travis d’Arnaud. He had no pain. Ferguson will go on a rehab assignment in a few days. … SS Corey Seager had the day off.
UP NEXT
Braves: RH Mike Foltynewicz (0-1, 5.06) starts the series finale.
Dodgers: LH Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 2.77) last faced the Braves in Game 2 of last year’s NLDS at home. He pitched eight shutout innings and struck out three to earn the victory.
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