LOS ANGELES ¨C Dave Roberts liberally drops the adjective ¡°elite¡± when describing his players, but it¡¯s no exaggeration these days when he links it to Hyun-Jin Ryu

Ryu pitched a four-hit masterpiece on Tuesday night in a 9-0 win over the Braves, the shutout doubling for his first complete game since 2013, the team¡¯s first complete game since Aug. 23, 2017 (Rich Hill), and its first shutout since May 3, 2016 (Clayton Kershaw).

? Box score

¡°It was good to watch Hyun-Jin do his thing,¡± said Roberts, who never called down to the bullpen for even a warm-up. ¡°Complete domination tonight. His feel, to strike the breaking ball, has always been elite. It¡¯s hard to say he¡¯s under the radar, but he¡¯s an elite pitcher in baseball. It makes it fun to sit back and watch. I think the only time he broke a sweat was when he was covering first base.¡±

Ryu took a perfect game into the sixth inning and didn¡¯t allow a runner past second base, while raising his record to 4-1 and lowering his ERA to 2.04. He struck out six without a walk and has struck out 44 with only two walks in 44 1/3 innings this year. He needed only 93 pitches and even singled and dropped a sacrifice bunt.

¡°He¡¯s very underrated,¡± said Justin Turner, whose first three-homer and six-RBI game provided more than enough support. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t miss two months last year [with a torn groin muscle], he¡¯s in the Cy Young conversation. Very underrated, and I think he kind of likes it that way. He wants to show up, do his job and doesn¡¯t care about the accolades, but he deserves them all.¡±

Ryu is 6-0 with a 1.17 ERA at home since last Sept. 27. Since April 10 of this season, his 1.83 ERA and .214 opponents average lead MLB. He hasn¡¯t walked a batter at home since Aug. 26, 2018, over 56 innings and 207 plate appearances.

¡°I want to be a pitcher my teammates can depend on me every five days, and I will put more effort in so I can start every five days,¡± said Ryu, who missed nearly two full seasons recovering from major shoulder surgery.

Ryu¡¯s previous start against Atlanta was in Game 1 of last year¡¯s National League Division Series, when he pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out four in a 6-0 win. He¡¯s had only two previous complete games, one a shutout, in his rookie season of 2013.

¡°He¡¯s been so good, so many different times, but tonight he reached back for 92 [mph] when he needed it and he could have kept going,¡± said Roberts.

? BTS star Yoongi takes in game in Ryu jersey

Ryu had an overflow audience of family and friends in attendance and dedicated the win as a birthday gift to his mother.

Tyler Flowers spoiled Ryu¡¯s perfect game by grounding a single past a diving Turner and into left field leading off the sixth inning. Turner joked if he¡¯d realized at the time that Ryu was working on a perfect game, he might have called on superhero powers.

¡°When I looked up and saw the '1' flash on the board, I wanted to kick myself a little bit more,¡± said Turner. ¡°Try to dive and ¡®Go-Go Gadget Arm¡¯ that ball into the six-hole.¡±

Right fielder Cody Bellinger preserved the shutout with a tumbling circus catch on the run to rob Ronald Acuna Jr. of extra bases with Ozzie Albies on second base and two out in the seventh inning, giving Roberts a scare four days after Bellinger dislocated his right shoulder diving for a ground ball.

¡°Cody made a play I don¡¯t think anybody else in baseball can make,¡± Roberts said.