After taking three straight close losses to conclude a four-game series in Cleveland, the Minnesota Twins hope to recover with ace Joe Ryan on the mound against the host Boston Red Sox in the opener of a three-game set on Friday.
The current skid followed the Twins’ three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels last weekend, with Ryan (2-2, 3.18 ERA) striking out 11 across seven scoreless innings in the series finale on Sunday.
On Thursday, Minnesota outhit the Guardians 13-6 — led by Ty France and Harrison Bader with 3-for-5 games — but fell 4-3 in 10 innings. The Twins have allowed a total of just 10 runs during their three-game skid.
“If I had that answer (about what we’re doing wrong), we’d be scoring a lot more runs,” France said.
As for Ryan, a dominant four-seam fastball helped him finish one shy of his career high in strikeouts and generate a total of 26 swings and misses.
“When he’s throwing the ball the way he was (on Sunday), you really see that effect,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s a really good pitch that he can always have in his back pocket in any situation, and he locates it well, too.”
