Ryu masterful again, runs scoreless streak to 31

CINCINNATI -- Hyun-Jin Ryu had not won a decision this season away from Dodger Stadium, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts knew it was just a matter of time.

“He likes pitching at home,” Roberts said, prior to Sunday’s game. “But if he commands the fastball, he can pitch anywhere, even on the moon.”

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Or even in hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park, where Ryu on Sunday tossed seven shutout innings as the Dodgers took the finale of a three-game series with the Reds, 8-3.

• The 10 longest scoreless-inning streaks

Ryu extended his Major League-leading scoreless streak to 31 innings, allowing five hits with a walk and five strikeouts, lowering his MLB-leading ERA to 1.52.

“He’s locked in right now with everything, his entire pitch mix,” said Roberts. “It’s fun to watch a player in a zone like that. I felt like he was in complete control.”

Ryu is 5-0 with a 1.22 ERA at Dodger Stadium. He entered Sunday with an 0-1 record on the road with a still solid 2.93 ERA.

Ryu said he didn’t alter his routine leading up to Sunday’s start but did say that he benefited from some extra time off leading up to it.

“It’s been a while since I pitched this well on the road,” Ryu said, via an interpreter. “As a starting pitcher, you need to put up a good performance whether you are at home or on the road. My workout routine is the same. I had a couple off-days and did a good job resting.”

Alex Verdugo went 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs.

Cody Bellinger’s two-run home run off Wandy Peralta made the score 4-0 in the seventh. It was his 17th home run of the season. He’s now batting .405 through 48 games.

Russell Martin added a solo shot off Peralta in the eighth, his second of the season.

Justin Turner returned to the Dodgers' lineup after missing one start with a left shin contusion. In the third, Turner’s hard grounder went through the legs of Jose Iglesias for an error allowing L.A.’s second run to score.

Cincinnati had runners aboard in each of the first five innings, including three in scoring position.

Ryu did not record a 1-2-3 inning until the sixth, but he retired the final eight batters he faced.

“It wasn’t a crisp outing for me in the early part of the game,” Ryu said. “I had some traffic out there. My main concern was my velocity wasn’t there in the first inning. I had to be more efficient. I executed my pitches at the right times.”

One of those times was the first inning with runners on first and second with one out. Ryu got former teammate Yasiel Puig to ground into an inning-ending double play.

“That was a turning point for me,” Ryu said.

Ryu’s scoreless-innings streak is tied for 10th longest in Dodgers history, and now more than halfway to Dodgers great Orel Hershiser’s all-time record of 59 straight innings.

“We tried to do the best we can facing him,” said Puig, who injured himself making a sensational catch of Ryu’s foul pop in the sixth. “He’s been pitching great. He is 6-1 today and before that was pitching all the teams really well. Today he’s coming again and did the job he’s been doing his whole career against us.”

Yimi Garcia allowed back-to-back homers to Jose Peraza and pinch-hitter Derek Dietrich in the ninth, costing the Dodgers the shutout.

Ryu isn’t the only Dodgers starting pitcher who is on a roll.

Over the past 22 games, Dodgers starting pitchers are 12-2 with a 2.05 ERA with 144 strikeouts and 18 walks. They have allowed 17 earned runs over the past 12 games.

“They don’t walk many guys and they’re strike throwers,” Roberts said. “They can get punch-outs when they need it. We play good defense behind them. We’ve got a lot of momentum with our starters right now.”