Twins starter Joe Ryan allowed just two runs across five innings, but when your lineup backs you with only a run on four hits, the result is bound to be a loss, and so it was: The Twins fell 3-1 on the road to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.
The end of the season is almost here. The Twins have games Saturday and Sunday and that will be it for 2025.
Three months ago, Ryan struck out 11 Colorado Rockies and improved to 10-4 with a 2.63 ERA. He appeared to be well on his way to entering the AL Cy Young conversation, but after Friday’s loss he is now 13-10 with a 3.47 ERA. Those are still respectable numbers; they’re just not elite numbers. However, I think Joe has the stuff to get there. A little more support from the offense wouldn’t hurt.
The Twins will try again Saturday. Portland’s Mick Abel gets the ball.
Extra innings…
–The Twins are 69-91.
–Ryan’s line: two runs allowed on five hits across five innings with a walk and nine strikeouts.
–Ex-Twin Jhoan Duran, now closing games for the Phillies, picked up save No. 32 in the win.
–What happens when you have your health? Well, just look at the season Byron Buxton has had: He has played in the second-most games of his 11-year career, plus he has set career highs in plate appearances (533), at bats (479), runs (96), hits (127), home runs (34) and walks at 41. He has slashed .265/.328/.551 this season.
–On that note: The Athletic has released its list of MVPs for each team, and they picked Luke Keaschall over Buxton, which while nice, is way off the mark. Twins Territory let ’em have it on Reddit.
–Although the Twins lost Friday, they won the recent series against the Texas Rangers. It was their first series win since they took two of three games from the Padres at the end of August.
–Both the Guardians and Tigers lost on Friday, so they remain tied atop the AL Central division with two games left to play.
–I know the Twins haven’t had a good season, but at least they are not the Colorado Rockies. The Rocks lost again Friday to fall to 43-116. Their run differential is frightening. They have scored 591 runs, but have surrendered 1,007, a negative run differential of 416. Yikes.