Fourteen months after undergoing surgery on his left elbow, “Korean Monster” Ryu Hyun-jin, 36, of the Toronto Blue Jays, took an early exit in his second start of the season after being hit squarely on the inside of his right knee by a pitch.

Ryu pitched four scoreless innings of one-hit ball with one walk and two strikeouts before being removed from the game against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers of Major League Baseball (MLB) at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., on Monday (Aug. 8).

His ERA dropped from 7.20 to 4.00.

Ryu faced an unexpected setback in the bottom of the fourth inning with the bases loaded and the score tied at 0-0.

He threw a changeup outside the zone to Oscar Gonzalez, who reacted and swung at it.

The pitch was aimed at Ryu, and before he could get into a defensive stance, it hit him squarely on the inside of his right knee.

Ryu caught the ball as it rolled sideways after hitting his knee and threw to first base to catch Gonzalez.

However, Ryu stayed upright and fell to the ground, where he remained in pain for some time.

Ryu limped to the dugout after being assisted by Toronto manager John Schneider, and was replaced by bullpen arm Jay Jackson in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Ryu’s exact condition is unknown. However, the local MLB broadcasters reported a right knee contusion.

Ryu was perfect until he was pulled.

He got leadoff hitter Stephen Kwan to ground out to first base on two pitches in the first inning. The next batter, Andres Jimenez, followed suit with a grounder to shortstop.

Jimenez was initially ruled safe, but the call was overturned on video review.

With a breath of fresh air, Ryu worked a full count after giving up three straight pitches to Jose Ramirez, then induced a grounder to the pitcher with a cut fastball.

Ryu caught the pitch well and handled it himself.

He got Gonzalez and Cole Calhoun to fly out to right and left, respectively, and struck out right-hander Gabriel Arias on a swinging strike.

In the first, he threw three changeups and induced three swings and misses.

In the third inning, he used his “awl” and “slow 100-mile-per-hour curveball” as tools to cook the Cleveland lineup.

Ryu struck out leadoff hitter Brayan Rocchio on a two-pitch, two-strike count with a fastball low in the strike zone.

He followed that up with a 108 mph curveball to Miles Strahle, who flied out to right field.

Two batters later, Ryu got Bo Naylor to ground out to second base. He showed great command of his pitches, including a 108 mph curveball.

After a flawless outing, Ryu gave up a walk to Jimenez in the top of the fourth to load the bases for the first time.

On a two-ball, two-strike count, Ryu threw an exquisite fastball that was caught on the lower boundary of the strike zone, but the umpire did not call it a strike.

Frustrated, Ryu gave up a walk on a full count.

But it didn’t rattle him too much. He struck out Ramirez on a fly ball to right field.

The problem came when Gonzalez came up to bat with two outs. Ryu was unable to throw any more pitches due to the injury.

On the day, Ryu threw 52 pitches, including 26 fastballs, 11 changeups, 10 curves, and five cut fastballs.

His fastball topped out at 90.7 miles per hour (146 km/h) and his average velocity was 88.8 miles per hour (143 km/h).

Ryu also surpassed 900 strikeouts in his MLB career.

Toronto is currently tied 0-0 with Cleveland in the sixth inning. 토토사이트