TORONTO, ON — Hyun Jin Ryu pitched seven solid innings in his first start for Toronto on Canadian soil, George Springer and Teoscar Hernandez homered and the Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Indians 7-2.
Ryu waited more than a year and a half to take the mound as a home player in Toronto after signing an $80 million, four-year contract in December 2019. The Korean left-hander didn't disappoint the crowd of 14,270, retiring the first six batters in order and striking out eight.
The Blue Jays (55-49) have won five of six games since moving back north of the border. They still sit three games back of the Oakland Athletics for the American League's second wild card spot.
Cleveland starter Zach Plesac fell into a 3-0 first-inning hole and ended up allowing six runs on 10 hits over five innings of work. Bobby Bradley and Harold Ramirez each drove in runs, but other than that the Tribe (52-52) couldn't get much going offensively.
The Indians themselves are now six games behind Oakland, and still have two games remaining in this north-of-the-border series. Rookie J.C. Mejia (1-6, 7.60 ERA) will start Wednesday night against Toronto's Steven Matz (8-6, 4.58).
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