The Twins’ season to this point has been disappointing; the team possesses a 47-49 win-loss record, sitting 11 ½ games behind the Detroit Tigers for first place in the American League Central and four games behind the Seattle Mariners for the third American League Wild Card spot. Despite Minnesota’s struggles this year, its All-Stars represented the organization well in the Midsummer Classic at Truist Park on Tuesday night, giving fans something to be happy about during a time when hope is low.
Twins right-handed starting pitcher Joe Ryan dominates in All-Star Game appearance
Ryan, who has a 2.72 ERA with 121 strikeouts in 109 ⅓ innings this season, was the first Twin to appear in the All-Star Game on Tuesday, facing the minimum in one inning of work on just 10 pitches. Ryan entered the game to start the bottom half of the fourth inning with the National League leading by two runs. The Twins starting pitcher first faced Padres third baseman Manny Machado, who struck out swinging on four pitches. Ryan then induced a pop out from Dodgers catcher Will Smith on one pitch, then struck out Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker looking on five pitches.
Byron Buxton plays crucial role in tying game late for American League
Buxton, who advanced to the semifinals of the Home Run Derby after hitting 20 homers in Round 1 on Monday, replaced the Tigers’ Javier Báez in center field to start the bottom half of the fifth inning in the All-Star Game.
Facing Giants reliever Randy Rodriguez, Buxton lined out sharply to Marlins left fielder Kyle Stowers in his first at-bat of the night in the top of the seventh. His next at-bat played a big part in creating All-Star Game history.
With one out in the top of the ninth inning, and the American League trailing by two runs, Buxton doubled on a ground ball to Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. Bobby Witt Jr. then drove in Buxton on a double of his own and later scored on a two-out RBI single from Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan, tying the game 6-6. Aroldis Chapman went on to shutout the National League in the bottom of the ninth inning, forcing the game to be decided by the first-ever swing-off, where three players from each team have three swings each, and the winner is decided by which team hits the most home runs.
The National League ended up winning the swing-off 4-3 as Kyle Schwarber crushed three homers on his three swings. Even though the American League fell short, Ryan and Buxton played critical roles in creating one of the more entertaining All-Star games in recent history.