Rookie righty Joe Ryan stifles Tribe in 3-0 Twins victory
By: Sean Fitzgerald
The Cleveland Indians had lost back-to-back games coming back home from Boston over the weekend against AL Central Rival Minnesota Twins
That losing streak extended to three, with the Twins coming away with a 3-0 win in an unexpected pitchers duel.
Triston McKenzie, arguably one of baseball’s top pitchers the last few weeks, quickly disposed of Luis Arraez, Byron Buxton and Jorge Polanco on swinging strikes to set the tone for the night.
The Twins trotted out Joe Ryan, part of the return from the Nelson Cruz trade. In only his second start, the rookie had a scare with Andres Gimenez hitting the ball to the warning track before Buxton tracked it down. Ryan dispatched Amed Rosario and Jose Ramirez to close his first frame of action.
After Josh Donaldson knocked a double just above the glove of a leaping Harold Ramirez in left, advancing to third on a fielder’s choice and getting tagged out between third and home by McKenzie for the second out. Rob Refsnyder flew out to right to end the inning.
The two young pitchers kept dueling, with McKenzie giving up two bases to Jorge Polanco in the fourth with two down. The next pitch was launched by Donaldson right back to Daniel Johnson, who doubled up Polanco at second base in a highlight moment of bad base running.
As to who blinked first, it was McKenzie, giving up an RBI double to Nick Gordon. Johnson whiffed on picking the ball up again in the corner like on Polanco’s double an inning earlier.
McKenzie was pulled after throwing 53 of 83 pitches for strikes over six innings, allowing three hits, a walk, a run and seven strikeouts, five of the swinging variety.
Nick Wittgren came on in relief and extended the Twins lead to 2-0 with an absolutely crushed baseball to the Indians bullpen in dead center field.
It took until the seventh inning for the Indians to rip a hit off Ryan, with Amed Rosario turning on an inside slider for a single to break up the perfect game. Amed eventually ended up at third and didn’t score.
Ryan finished his night with a sterling seven-innings of one-hit ball, striking out four Tribe batters. Ryan also threw 61 of his 85 pitches for strikes in a fabulous showing.
The Twins tacked on another run in the eighth, with Buxton grounding into a fielder’s choice and beating out the throw to first to score Ryan Jeffers.
The Indians kept hitting the ball deep, like Bobby Bradley’s three baseballs stopping short at the warning track, and Andres Gimenez nearly leading the game off with a solo dong. But in a game that sometimes involves a lot of inches and luck, the Twins came away just a tad luckier on Wednesday night in early September.
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McKenzie rising
Over Triston McKenzie’s last four starts, including tonight’s showing, he’s continued flashing the promise that made him a top prospect and core piece of Cleveland’s future.
The right-hander has pitched 27 innings, going 3-1 with a 1.00 ERA. He’s given up only seven hits and three walks, all the while striking out 32 hitters, good for a 0.37 WHIP.
Straw stirring the offense
Myles Straw has hit safely in 28 of his 35 games since being acquired at the trade deadline from Houston, hitting for a .292 batting average (42-for-144) with nine doubles, two home runs, seven steals, 10 RBI, 17 walks and 24 runs scored.
Since Straw's acquisition, the Tribe have 339 hits, second in the Majors behind Boston (348).
Second-half Rosario
Amed Rosario has been scorching during the second half, batting .332 with five home runs and 25 RBI since the All-Star Break. Rosario has posted better numbers in the second half of the season over his Major League career, hitting at a .294/.324/.430 clip in the second half.
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Sean Fitzgerald is a Kent State graduate and the press box correspondent for Mark One Sports and CLE TribeCast. Follow him on Twitter @fitzonsportsbsr.
