Twins fans shouldn't overreact to one bad Joe Ryan start

After taking Game 1 of the three-game series against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on Monday, the Minnesota Twins appeared in a strong position to win the series in Game 2 on Tuesday with the team's ace, Joe Ryan, making the start on the mound. Unfortunately, Ryan surprisingly got lit up for a six-run fourth inning, capped off by a grand slam from AL MVP candidate Yordan Alvarez. The Astros ended up winning the game 6-4.

Ryan finished the fourth inning and then was relieved by right-hander Eric Orze, who proceeded to throw two scoreless innings. On the night, Ryan allowed six earned runs on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

While it's fair to be disappointed by Ryan's start, especially when every game feels like a must-win given where the team is in the standings, fans shouldn't let the start affect how they view Ryan. Before last night's loss, Ryan had a 3.18 ERA and a 2.82 FIP over 93 1/3 innings this season. Even after his rough outing against Houston, Ryan still has a strong 3.61 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 28.2% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate in 97 1/3 innings this year.

Also, while Ryan does deserve much of the blame for last night's loss, it wasn't completely his fault.

Twins' Joe Ryan had plenty of bad luck in Tuesday's loss to Astros

Ryan began the bottom of the fourth by getting first baseman Christian Walker to ground out. The Astros then got their first run on three straight singles. Ryan was a bit unlucky, as one of the singles, hit by center fielder Taylor Trammell, registered at just 80.7 mph off the bat and probably should've been an error on third baseman Royce Lewis, who also missed a pop-up in the inning.

Ryan then struck out shortstop Nick Allen for the second out of the inning before walking third baseman Raynel Delgado to load the bases. Ryan got Delgado to a full count, and the fourth ball actually clipped the corner of the zone. If Twins catcher Victor Caratini had challenged the call, Delgado would've struck out to end the inning, and Minnesota would've been leading 3-1.

Instead, Ryan walked Jose Altuve with the bases loaded, giving the Astros their second run of the game and leading to Alvarez stepping up to the plate to hit the game-determining grand slam. The home plate umpire actually called strike three on Altuve in his fourth-inning plate appearance, but the second baseman challenged the call, which was overturned and instead gave him a walk.

Ryan deserves blame for his rough start, but he was also undoubtedly unlucky. There's no need to overreact to the outing.

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