Riding a three-game losing streak and a 3-8 record, the Minnesota Twins earned a much-needed confidence boost from Joe Ryan in his third start of the season.
Ryan hurled seven shutout innings while allowing two hits and zero walks en route to a 4-0 win for Minnesota against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium.
“[Ryan] was in command of everything. It didn't look like [the Royals] had good looks at him," manager Rocco Baldelli told the media postgame. "It looked like the stuff was crisp.”
Ryan, who finished with four strikeouts, improves to 1-1 on the year.
Even with Ryan’s dominant performance, Baldeilli subbed him out of the game for Griffin Jax after just 85 pitches. While many Twins fans likely wanted Ryan to go one or two more innings, the move to Jax made sense, given Ryan’s injury history. And with what happened to Pablo Lopez last night, there’s no point in trying to stretch Ryan longer than needed and potentially creating another injury to a key player on the roster.
“[Ryan has] only thrown five innings this year, with his spring being slightly abbreviated," Baldelli said. "We’re going to push him, and probably a month from now, he might end up finishing the game the way he’s pitching."
Ryan made a statement in his first start of the season, striking out five and allowing one run across five innings of work against the St. Louis Cardinals on March 29. He struggled in his second start against the Houston Astros on April 3 but didn’t necessarily pitch poorly. His ERA now sits at 2.65.
Ty France, Matt Wallner lead Twins offense against Royals
The Twins desperately needed France to step up his game, and the former Mariner delivered.
The offseason signee entered Wednesday’s game against the Royals with a mere .205 batting average and .544 OPS and ended the game with a .256 BA and .699 OPS. He went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.
Despite striking out thrice, Wallner continued his tear at the plate from the leadoff spot by hitting a 404-foot home run just out of the reach of a leaping Hunter Renfroe in right center field.
Other good signs for Minnesota on Wednesday included Carlos Correa collecting a hit and a walk and Griffin Jax throwing a scoreless inning of relief. Jhoan Duran threw a goose egg in the bottom of the ninth to give the Twins their fourth win of the season.
The Twins will aim to even up the series against the Royals when the competing American League Central squads face at 1:10 p.m. on Thursday. Bailey Ober, who has previously struggled mightily against the Royals, is slated to start for Minnesota, with Michael Wacha expected to take the mound for Kansas City.