Cleveland @ Minnesota preview
Target Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 9, 2021 ) Minnesota 1, Cleveland 4
After Cleveland was no-hit for 15 consecutive innings and garnered just seven total hits while getting swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in a three-game series, one would think the Indians would welcome a trip to Minneapolis to face the American League Central cellar-dwelling Minnesota Twins.
One problem. Starting Game 1 of a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon for the Twins, who were mathematically eliminated from the AL Central race with a 6-5 loss to the Yankees in New York on Monday afternoon, is rookie Joe Ryan.
The right-hander, obtained from the Tampa Bay Rays on July 22 as part of the Nelson Cruz trade and a key starter on the United States' silver-medal winning Olympic squad, will be making just his third major league start. No. 2 was in Cleveland on Wednesday, when he retired the first 19 batters he faced before yielding a clean single to Amed Rosario to end his perfect-game quest with one out in the seventh.
Ryan (1-1, 2.25 ERA) left after pitching seven one-hit innings, having struck out four without issuing a walk.
Relievers Caleb Thielbar and Tyler Duffey each followed with a perfect inning to finish the 3-0 victory, only the second time in team history that the Twins allowed just one baserunner in a nine-inning game. The other was on Aug. 26, 1962, when Jack Kralick allowed a walk while tossing a no-hitter.
Right-hander Triston McKenzie (4-6, 4.44 ERA), who took the loss against Ryan in that contest and threw 7 2/3 perfect innings of his own in a 11-0 win at Detroit on Aug. 15, will oppose Ryan in Tuesday's opener.
Left-handers Logan Allen (1-6, 6.86 ERA) and Charlie Barnes (0-3, 6.59), who will be recalled by the Twins from Triple-A Saint Paul to serve as the 29th man for the doubleheader, are scheduled to start Game 2.
Indians catcher Ryan Lavarnway hit a one-out single in the sixth inning Sunday to break up Eric Lauer's bid for back-to-back no-hitters by Milwaukee and also snap the 15-inning hitless drought for Cleveland (69-72). Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader combined to no-hit the Indians on Saturday night.
"It's such a cliche, but it's a cliche because it's true," Lavarnway said. "All the innings that we went without hits, they don't count in the inning we're in, so you just have to find a way to stay present and attack what we're doing in the present."
The Indians will find an angry Minnesota team waiting for them after the Twins blew an early 5-0 lead and lost 6-5, in 10 innings at Yankee Stadium on Monday. Gary Sanchez delivered a walk-off RBI single just two innings after Aaron Judge hit a two-out, three-run homer to tie it.
Judge's home run came off Alex Colome after Twins manager Rocco Baldelli had been ejected for arguing balls and strikes after Brett Gardner earned a walk off Duffey.
"I think there are a lot of people that are pretty (ticked) off after this one," Baldelli said.
Two of the balls to Gardner appeared to catch the edge of the strike-zone box, including ball four.
"The way it played out at the end there is tough to swallow," Baldelli said. "We're battling our (rears) off out there. Things got tight and we felt that inning should have been over.
"I'm sure there's some emotional guys in the clubhouse right now. But what we'll do is we will wrap it up, get ourselves together and get ready to get home for a doubleheader, and get right back at it."
It was the 21st loss in the past 23 games at Yankee Stadium for the Twins (63-81), who are 10-6 against Cleveland this season.
--Field Level Media