A lot went wrong in the Twins’ first 22 games, a run that saw them leave Atlanta 20 days ago after being swept to put them a season-low eight games under .500.
A lot has gone right for the Twins since then.
They started it by taking care of business against two of the worst teams in the American League, winning five of six games on their last homestand. A blip in Cleveland and Boston was followed by a seven-game winning streak that has pulled the Twins back to .500 for the first time since Opening Day.
The Twins got there by beating the San Francisco Giants 2-1 on Saturday night at Target Field, getting a strong performance from Joe Ryan — who dealt with a violent illness earlier this week — a few more scoreless innings from their bullpen — which has been stellar on this run — a key defensive play and just enough offense.
A matchup between Ryan and Logan Webb had the potential of a pitchers’ duel and the two starters didn’t disappoint.
Ryan, whose start was pushed back from Thursday to Saturday after he vomited an estimated 20-30 times on Monday, didn’t show signs of physical strain. He threw six strong innings, striking out seven and allowing just two hits; one — a Heliot Ramos home run — left the park.
Webb was just as tough on the Twins, the only difference being that the one pitch he threw that left the park was a two-run home run, rather than a solo shot. Trevor Larnach’s sixth home run of the season, which came in the third inning, was the only offense the Twins would muster on the day.
And yet, it was enough.
Griffin Jax followed Ryan into the game, throwing a scoreless seventh. He made way for Cole Sands, who gave up a double to lead off the eighth. But it wouldn’t come around to hurt the Twins thanks to catcher Christian Vázquez, who, after Ramos advanced to third, made an absolutely perfect throw to third baseman Royce Lewis to pick him off.
After receiving a high pitch from Sands, Vázquez fired the ball, leading Lewis to the perfect position to nab Ramos.
An inning later, Jhoan Duran induced a huge double play before getting Willy Adames to look at strike three to seal the win.
Worth noting
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected from the game in the sixth inning after objecting to a pitch that was called a ball on Carlos Correa, firing off his hat after an animated argument with home plate umpire Adrian Johnson.
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