Minneapolis – For most of the day Wednesday, the Twins’ clubhouse was pondering if they’d get their game in. Their Triple-A affiliate across town in St. Paul had a scheduled day game that was postponed. The rainfall in Minneapolis varied from drizzle to downpour from 7:00 a.m. until an hour and a half before first pitch.
“I think all of us had it in the back of our head that we might get delayed,” second baseman Kody Clemens said after the game. “But luckily it cleared up and they got the field ready, and it played well.”
The grounds crew removed the tarp around 5:15, and the Twins got themselves ready to try to break their five-game losing streak. They’ve lost five straight on their current homestand since returning home after a 12-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, and have lost 15 of their last 18 games since June 3.
Eventually, the Twins would end the vicious cycle. These losses were not going to continue forever, as Chris Paddack reassured fans in his postgame interviews on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, the Joe Ryan Experience provided the team and fans with much-needed relief to get the Twins back in the win column.
“I think he likes being the man, and I think he likes having the ball in his hands,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said postgame. “That always holds true, but the way he approached his outing today, the way he was so composed, but also pretty electric. The way he threw the ball was just very impressive, beginning to end.”
Ryan had his best outing in June. Six innings of scoreless, three-hit ball where he didn’t allow a single walk and struck out eight, including three against baseball’s current home run leader, the Big Dumper himself, Cal Raleigh.
“I don’t think anyone had front door sinkers for Cal Raleigh on there,” said Ryan. “He is f***ing the best hitter in baseball right now. He looks confident at the plate. … I think using that to our advantage there is great. We did the same thing to Juan Soto. It’s just not something he’s expecting all the time.”
The Twins allowed a few free baserunners. Ryan hit Julio Rodriguez the second batter of the game, and Clemens and Ty France had an error in the field. Still, Ryan didn’t allow a runner past second for the entirety of his outing.
Ryan always tries to minimize the free base runners, rack up strikeouts, and shove up zeros so he can give his battery mates their best chance to win. He met his standard on Wednesday.
It was especially impressive since he hadn’t had an outing with no walks since May 10 against the San Francisco Giants. He has allowed two or three per start in all his June outings. However, he tries not to think about them when he’s on the mound.
“I don’t think about the walks too much,” said Ryan. “It’s not really a part of my game, but I’m still going to be aggressive around the zone as usual. I think I got bailed out on a call today and then missed two strikes in the zone, too. The umpire, I think it was his second game, and I think he did a good job. I’ll take a strikeout, and if Julio wants to get a hit too, tip your cap on a little chopper.”
“He’s one of the best pitchers in the game,” said Willi Castro on Ryan’s performance. “One of the best fastballs in the game. He’s something else. He always goes out there focusing on every hitter, mixing up the pitches pretty well today. [Ryan is] a good pitcher, and he’s a guy that’s going to bring games like this.”
The Twins didn’t get any runs themselves until Ryan’s night was done in the bottom of the sixth. Byron Buxton drew a one-out walk and came around to score on a Castro RBI single to give them their first lead of the series against the Mariners. The next inning, Clemens crushed a solo home run the opposite way to left-center field. He has homered in back-to-back games for the second time in his career.
Clemens’ ninth homer of the season kept adding to his new career high. He’s only 17 plate appearances short of his career high of 148 in 2023 with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Twins have allowed him to unleash the latent power in his swing.
“I’ve hit four or five home runs with the limited at-bats that I’ve had over the course of three years,” said Clemens. “So I just think it’s the consistent playing time, kind of like I’ve been saying, and them trusting me to run me out there every day versus right-handed pitchers. So I’m grateful I’m getting the opportunity to do that.”
“We knew he could hit the ball hard,” said Baldelli. “We knew he’s a guy that could grab you some extra-base hits, pop some homers, and things like that. [Clemens will] be aggressive in the batter’s box. He’s not afraid. He’s not going to stand there and just watch tons of pitches go by. He’s going to be ready to hit.”
The Twins still have a few more wins to get back to .500. They also are in need to win three of their last four games in June to avoid having fewer than 10 wins in June for the first time in 30 years. However, for now, the Twins’ pitchers meeting on Tuesday has put them back in the win column. They rode the wave to victory, all on the back of the Joe Ryan Experience.
