Hyun-Jin Ryu didn’t pitch quite to the same level as his previous Cactus League starts, but the left-hander nonetheless reached the goal of throwing five innings, and kept pressure on Alex Wood to earn a spot in the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation.
Ryu opened the game with a strikeout, though two batters later surrendered a solo home run to Melky Cabrera. Todd Frazier reached on a Kiké Hernandez error, then was stranded as Ryu struck out Avisail Garcia.
Logan Forsythe added to his strong spring with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first. Franklin Gutierrez later doubled, and Yasmani Grandal’s two-run base hit gave the Dodgers a lead. Ryu retired the side in order in the second inning, and worked around a leadoff single in the third.
Similarly, White Sox starter Derek Holland kept the Dodgers off the bases in the second and third innings. Matt Davidson’s two-out single in the fourth was cashed in on a Yolmer Sanchez two-run homer.
Adrian Gonzalez, who walked, and Yasiel Puig, who singled, were stranded by Joc Pederson and Chase Utley in the bottom half of the inning. Ryu worked around a two-out single in the fifth to keep the Dodgers within a run of the White Sox.
He allowed three runs, scattered three hits (two home runs), had five strikeouts to zero walks, and threw 77 pitches over five innings. Aside from the home runs, Ryu’s outing was par for the course this spring.
Brandon Morrow, pitching in back-to-back games for the first time, was greeted by a Frazier leadoff double in the sixth. Davidson’s sacrifice fly extended the White Sox’s lead to 4-2 before Morrow could get out of the inning.
Holland went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He was replaced by Jeff Petricka, who saw Utley reach on an error to start the bottom of the seventh. Petricka retired pinch-hitter Ike Davis, Forsythe and Hernandez to preserve a two-run lead.
Frazier’s solo home run in the eighth inning added to it, and the White Sox went on to defeat the Dodgers, 5-2.
