Bad news: the Twins lost. Good news: it doesn’t really matter at this point. While Minnesota’s second half fade has been disappointing, 2026 was always supposed to be a transition season as the kids worked their way up to the MLB squad to make a push for 2027 and beyond. But for now, let’s look at this one.
Joe Ryan was back on the mound for the second time since returning from the IL and had yet another rough second half outing. He gave up a homer on the second pitch of the game to known slap-hitter
Steven Kwan, just Kwan’s third of the season.
The second inning didn’t end in runs, but it was arguably worse. Ryan gave up singles to Patrick Bailey and Kwan before a contentious at-bat with rookie Chase DeLauter. With a 1-1 count, Ryan threw a slider a good 6 inches below the strike zone, which he thought was a strike and was visibly upset that Ryan Jeffers didn’t challenge on his behalf. Two pitches later, Ryan did technically strike out DeLauter looking on a very similar pitch, but the rookie correctly challenged to bring the count full. Ryan was 3/4 of the way to the dugout by the time it was overturned and had to get back into things. AND THEN Ryan thought he had strike three for the third time on a fastball inside that was correctly called a ball. Ryan challenged the call, the first time a Twins pitcher has challenged all season, and lost, loading the bases for Travis Bazzana. Bazzana then should have walked on four pitches after Ryan couldn’t collect himself, but got a gift strike on a fastball well outside which Bazzana did not challenge. A few pitches later, Bazzana flew out about 360 feet to right-center.
That’s hopefully the most words I’ll ever write about an inning that didn’t result in runs for either team, but it completely encapsulates what went wrong for Ryan today.
Things didn’t get much better from there for the Twins’ ace. He gave up a leadoff homer to Jo Adell that went approximately 800 feet into the apartments behind left field, at least according to the eye test.
Cleveland decided to pick on Ryan in a new way in the fourth inning, running the bases aggressively and stealing two bags to plate a couple more runs. He’s struggled to control the run game for years, which typically matters less when he’s on his game since so few batters reach base, but Ryan was just completely out of his element today. By the time his afternoon was over, the Twins trailed 4-1 but it felt like a much larger deficit.
For the bats, there just wasn’t much the Twins could do against Tanner Bibee. They plated a run in the third thanks to a well-placed fly ball from Kody Clemens that resulted in an RBI double. The only other time Minnesota had multiple baserunners came in the seventh, with a leadoff homer from Trevor Larnach and a two-out single from Emma Rodriguez.
Tough looks all around today, but hey, at least we get to watch Rodriguez, Walker Jenkins, and (hopefully) Kaelen Culpepper the rest of the way. It’s hard to remember a time when three players this highly touted all debuted within about a month of each other. Things aren’t fun to watch right now, but those three spell a bright future for the Minnesota baseball club.
STUDS
- Luke Keaschall: 2-4, R
- Trevor Larnach: 2-3, R, RBI, BB HR
DUDS
- All the pitchers (Ryan, Adams, Rogers, Nance): each gave up at least 1 run. All but Nance gave up 2
- Joe Ryan, in particular: 4 IP, 7 H, 4 R, BB, K, 2 HR allowed
At least there’s some Vikings to numb the pain.
— sees Kyler Murray got knocked out 10 plays into the game
— ducks
At least there’s a Twins-Yankees game tomorrow to enhance the pain.
