The Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to four games with a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday, receiving an encouraging start from River Ryan in his MLB debut.
The right-hander was called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City before first pitch to become the latest Dodgers prospect to join the team this year. James Paxton was designated for assignment as the corresponding roster move.
Ryan proceed to allow just one unearned run on four hits in 5.1 innings pitched.
“Yeah, it was great,” the 25-year-old said of his big league debut. “There was definitely a lot of emotions, up and downs all day.
“But I spent some time with the Lord earlier today, definitely prayed when I got on the mound. It helped him calm my nerves, but yeah, it was it was an experience for sure.”
Although he felt some nerves throughout the day, Ryan treated his first MLB outing like any other start. “I just tried to stick to the same approach I’ve been doing all year, kind of my whole career,” he explained.
“Versus righties and lefties, we talked to Will before the game and Prior, we got the gameplan down and just stuck to it.”
Ryan didn’t have his best command but still managed to pitch into the sixth inning for the first time as a professional, which drew a standing ovation from the Dodgers fans in attendance.
“That was great,” he said of the reception. “And then the ground starts to shake a little bit when everybody gets loud. But yeah, that was that was really fun to be a part of.”
The evening was extra special for Ryan, who had several family members in the stands to watch him make his MLB debut. “It was great. It was definitely truly a blessing to have all them make it out,” Ryan said.
“Their support has been unbelievable throughout my entire career starting when I was little. Yeah, I’m extremely happy that they were able to make it here.”
Dave Roberts impressed with River Ryan
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was impressed with Ryan and believes he has earned another big league start. “I think that getting through this one, I feel good about him making his next start and we’ll go from there,” Roberts said.
“So I think that it was a good one and him getting into the sixth inning allowed for us to save some guys and I still feel that we’ve got good coverage for tomorrow and in a plus or minus game.”
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