Sports

/

ArcaMax

Twins shut out Angels, starting with seven scoreless innings from Joe Ryan

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on

Published in Baseball

MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Ryan started walking toward the dugout when he thought he had struck out Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Logan O’Hoppe on a full-count fastball at the bottom of the strike zone in the fourth inning Sunday.

Ryan stopped after a few steps and shook his head, showing his disagreement with the call after his first walk of the afternoon. His next response was striking out the next batter on three pitches.

The Angels didn’t stand much of a chance against Ryan, who struck out a season-high 11 batters across seven scoreless innings. Ryan generated a whiff on nearly half of the hitters’ swings in a dominant performance, leading the Twins to a 5-0 victory to complete a three-game sweep at Target Field.

It was Ryan’s 10th career start with a double-digit strikeout total, finishing one shy of tying his career high, and it punctuated a Twins homestand on which they posted a 5-1 record against the Angels and Chicago White Sox.

When the Twins faced the White Sox and Angels in back-to-back series last April, it kickstarted a 12-game winning streak that propelled them out of their ugly start to the season. It’s too early to know whether this homestand will have a similar effect, but the Twins won’t lose many games when Ryan is pitching at his best.

Ryan permitted four hits and one walk as he matched his longest start of the year. In his first time through the Angels batting order, he totaled five strikeouts and three foul outs.

Zach Neto gave the Angels their first baserunner with a one-out double in the fourth inning. Ryan allowed the walk to O’Hoppe in an eight-pitch battle before stranding his two runners when he froze Travis d’Arnaud with a fastball that clipped the outside corner for a called third strike.

Ryan, who induced a staggering 26 swings and misses on 56 swings (a jaw-dropping 18 with his fastball), threw a first-pitch strike to 20 of his 25 batters. He had only one inning in which he threw more than 16 pitches.

There weren’t many moments when Ryan needed his defense, but center fielder Harrison Bader provided one of the best catches of the Twins’ season in the seventh inning. The Angels’ Taylor Ward led off the seventh inning with a line drive that Bader took away with a diving catch in front of the warning track.

 

Ryan kept his arms raised to celebrate, waiting for Bader to return to his feet. Once Bader collected himself, Ryan offered claps.

Bader apparently wanted more applause, opening the bottom of the seventh inning with a hustle double to left field. He scored when Trevor Larnach hit a two-out single to left field.

The Twins broke out offensively with a three-run sixth inning, aided by a couple of defensive miscues. Carlos Correa hammered a ground ball that left his bat at 112.6 mph — his hardest-hit ball of the season — and the ball skipped past Angels second baseman Kyren Paris. Larnach, the next batter, hit a slow roller to third base, and Luis Rengifo booted the ball when he reached with his glove while charging forward.

Ty France hit an RBI double, giving the Twins their first run since the first inning, then Ryan Jeffers cleared the bases with a two-run double.

The Twins scored a run in the first inning in all three games against the Angels. Facing hard-throwing sinkerballer José Siriano, Edouard Julien drew a leadoff walk and Correa followed with a double to the left-field wall.

France drove in Julien with a lineout to right field, which turned into an uncontested sacrifice fly when Mike Trout threw to the wrong base. Trout rifled a strong throw to third when it could have been a competitive play at the plate after Julien had to hurry back to third to tag up on the lineout.

Next up for the Twins is a seven-game road trip, which begins with four games against Cleveland, the reigning American League Central champion.

____


©2025 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus