The “Korean Monster,” Hyun-jin Ryu (36-Toronto Blue Jays), finally tasted victory on a major league mound again. It took 444 days of drama.

On Thursday (June 14), Hyun-jin Ryu started a home game against the Chicago Cubs at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and pitched five innings of two-hit ball with three strikeouts and two walks to lead the Blue Jays to an 11-4 victory. It was his first win since May 27 of last year against the Los Angeles Angels. It was his 76th win (46 losses) in 178 career major league games.

Ryu underwent a lengthy rehabilitation after undergoing left elbow ligament reconstruction surgery on June 19 last year. There were many concerns due to his young age, but he persevered for a year and returned to the field on June 2 against the Baltimore Orioles.

His comeback performance wasn’t 100%. He gave up four runs on nine hits and one home run in five innings and took the loss. On August 8, he pitched well against the Cleveland Indians, but was removed early in the fourth inning after being hit by an Oscar Gonzalez line drive.

Luckily avoiding a major knee injury, Ryu took the mound again today against the Cubs after five days of rest, and he was back to his winning ways, throwing 86 pitches over five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

Ryu started the game off with a bang, striking out leadoff hitter Christopher Morel on a wild pitch, but gave up a walk to Nico Horner to load the bases. An unfortunate defensive error followed. Ian Happ’s grounder was not fielded by Toronto first baseman Brandon Belt. It bounced out of bounds, but he was able to make a good enough catch and was credited with the out at first base.

With runners on first and second, Ryu was shaky for a moment. He got Cody Bellinger to fly out to left field and then gave up a double to Dansby Swanson, who lined out to the third baseman. Two runs. Both runs were unearned, but it was a lot to ask of Ryu.

But Ryu had his teammates. The bats came alive in the second inning, scoring five runs to help the Aces come back. First, leadoff hitter Cavan Biggio reached on an infield single and Danny Jansen followed with a walk to put runners on first and second. Dolton Bashaw followed with a three-run home run over the right field fence off starter James Tyone to make it a 3-2 game. With runners on first and second, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled to left and George Springer doubled to right to make it a 5-2 game.

With the bases loaded, Ryu cruised. After retiring the side in order in the second inning, he allowed just one hit in the third. Catcher Jansen extended the lead in the third when he threw out Horner stealing second base with one out.

Ryu gave up a leadoff walk to Bellinger in the fourth, but retired the next two batters to get out of the jam. Toronto then helped Ryu with a three-run fourth inning. With runners on first and third, Guerrero hit an RBI single over the shortstop’s head, and Basho, who had hit a game-tying three-run homer earlier in the inning, followed with a two-run double that dropped in front of center field.

Taking the mound in the fifth inning with an 8-2 lead, Ryu retired the Cubs in order to fulfill the win requirement. The Toronto bench replaced him on the mound with Genesis Cabrera after the cleanup, ending Ryu’s outing. Toronto scored two runs in the seventh off Jay Jackson, but added three more in the eighth to complete the 11-4 victory.온라인바카

Ryu, who threw 86 pitches on the day, touched 147 mph on his fastball (40) and mixed in a changeup (24), cutter (12) and curveball (10), while striking out three. Toronto’s offense was led by Basho, who went 5-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs, while Guerrero chipped in with two doubles, two RBIs and one run scored.

Meanwhile, Taiyon, who faced Ryu on the day, was tagged for eight runs on eight hits, one walk, two homers and two strikeouts in three innings. Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki, who was the center of attention in the two-hit matchup, went 1-for-4. He was silent against Ryu Hyun-jin, going 0-for-2.