Joe Ryan started strong Sunday afternoon and never let up.
The Twins right-hander cruised the first time through the Los Angeles batting order with five strikeouts, three foul outs and a flyout.
And the day’s tone was set.
Ryan’s bounce back performance came at the end of what could be termed a bounce back week for the Twins that culminated with a 5-0 win over the Angels at Target Field.
“We trusted that we were all around a really good team. But when we were losing as much as we were, it starts to get to the point where it’s hard to still believe in that,” said catcher Ryan Jeffers. “… We’re a really good team, and we can show, and we’ve started to show, that we are that team that everybody thinks we can be.”
Minnesota (12-16) won five of six games on its homestand: sweeping the Angels after taking two of three from the White Sox. The Twins have won three games in a row for the first time since Aug. 15-17, 2024. They start a seven-game road trip Monday in Cleveland.
“It’s one thing to go get ‘em for a day, it’s another thing to go get ‘em for an entire homestand,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “I was really pleased. We saw a lot today and it started with Joe Ryan.”
Ryan stymied the Angels to the tune of seven shutout innings. He struck out a season-high 11 — his 10th career game with double-digit strikeouts and one off his career best — and allowed just four hits. Los Angeles swung at and missed 26 pitches, a career best for Ryan.
“I always just assume they’re going to swing and miss when I throw (my fastball),” he said. “It’s hard for me to break that down, I guess, but it’s a good sign. I’m hitting my spots probably and we’re calling the right pitches. That’s all I think of it. I don’t know. It’s just a good pitch.”
Coming off his worst start of the season last Sunday in Atlanta where he gave up six runs in five innings, including three home runs, Ryan was on his game from the outset. Pounding the zone, Ryan (2-2) needed just 10 pitches to get through the first inning, struck out the side in the second and fanned two of three hitters in the third.
“We were working on some stuff this week, just mechanically and with the lower half. We got it rolling and it felt good,” Ryan said.
Carlos Correa had a season-high three hits and was 6 for 11 in the series.
Up 1-0 in the sixth, Correa led off with a single and Trevor Larnach reached on an error. Both scored on a double by Ty France. He scored two batters later via a Jeffers double.
An RBI single by Larnach made it 5-0 in the seventh.
Harrison Bader provided the highlight-reel defensive play to rob Taylor Ward of extra bases in the seventh inning. Playing center field and shaded towards right, Bader raced to his right made a Byron Buxton-like diving catch of a 108-mph liner and slid onto the warning track in front of the bullpens.
“That was insane,” Ryan said.
With the team in the midst of playing 13 straight days, Buxton got the day off.
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