Perhaps Glen Perkins, a former Twins relief pitcher who was in the radio booth on Monday with broadcast partner Kris Atteberry, put it best as he tried to wrap his head around what was happening to the Twins in their Game 1 tilt against the Cleveland Guardians.
“Make it make sense,” said Perkins on a night when nothing seemed to.
Most confusing is what happened to starting pitcher and All-Star Joe Ryan, who, incredibly, served up six home runs across four innings to set a new Twins record for dingers allowed in a game.
The previous mark was five, which is held by Ryan, Carlos Silva and Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, who coughed up five moon shots to the Texas Rangers on Sept. 13, 1986.
Ryan also becomes the 12th pitcher in major league history to allow six home runs in a game.
“It’s definitely frustrating and not how you want to start a series against these guys where we’re at in the season,” Ryan told MLB.com.
The Twins allowed seven home runs in the game, helping the Guards to score in seven straight innings for the 13-4 win.
The Twins will try again on Tuesday. Kendry Rojas gets the ball, which means it’s probably a bullpen day on the mound.
Extra innings…
–The Twins have now lost three straight games. The timing couldn’t be worse because the Boston Red Sox won their 14th straight on Monday to move three games ahead of the Twins for that final spot in the AL wild card race.
–The Twins banged out 10 hits in the loss, with Trevor Larnach, Byron Buxton, Josh Bell and Brooks Lee accounting for eight of those hits.
–Catcher Alex Jackson pitched a scoreless 8th inning for the Twins.
–Ryan’s line: Eight runs allowed on 10 hits, including the six home runs, across four innings with no walks and three strikeouts. He falls to 6-6 with a 3.38 ERA. His earned run average is a reminder of just how well he has pitched this season.
–On Sept. 13, 1986, the Twins and starting pitcher Blyleven were walloped by the Rangers, 14-1. Bert, who was susceptible to the long ball during his career, allowed five of them that day.
The Star Tribune was there:
The Texas Rangers’ 14-1 hammering of the Twins at the Metrodome Saturday morning left Twins starter Bert Blyleven with a case of whiplash.
“I didn’t ice my arm; I iced down my neck,” he said after watching the Rangers pound five of their seven home runs off him.
The Texas power display put a quick end to the perfect record of interim manager Tom Kelly, who took over Friday night after Ray Miller had been fired. The Twins defeated the Rangers 4-2 in Kelly’s debut.
“Games like this are going to happen,” Kelly said after the Rangers set club records for home runs and extra-base hits in a game.
“At least, I’m sort of glad it didn’t happen on the first night.”
However, lest we forget how good a pitcher the Dutchman was, he struck out 14 Royals in a complete game effort on Sept. 24.
Source: Newspapers.com
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