Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan, 6 1/3 IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 6K (88 pitches, 56 strikes, 63.3%)
Home Runs: none
Bottom 3 WPA: Trevor Megill (-.174), Nick Gordon (-.111), Carlos Correa (-.065)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
Gladden and Tovar are inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame
Before first pitch, Twins legends Dan Gladden and César Tovar were honored by the organization with their induction into the club’s Hall of Fame. You can watch Gladden’s emotional speech by clicking here, courtesy of Bally Sports North. The late Tovar, who past away in 1994, was represented by his son César Tovar Jr. during the ceremony. What are your favorite memories of Gladden and Tovar in a Twins uniform?
Starters overpower opposing offenses
Both starting pitchers dominated their opposing lineups with somewhat ease. Joe Ryan no-hit the Rangers through three on only 29 pitches, with a fantastic 75.9% of strikes and five strikeouts in his first time through the order. During that same span, Rangers starter Kohei Arihara was almost just as brilliant, as he kept the Twins scoreless despite giving up a couple of singles.
Ryan’s first mistake came in the fourth inning. He fell behind 3-1 on the count trying to get leadoff man Marcus Semien to chase down and away. On the next pitch, he went up and in, and Semien made him pay: a 418-feet bomb to left put the Rangers on the scoreboard first. Ryan didn’t let that affect him, as he retired the next three batters on nine pitches, including a punchout.
Unfortunately for the Twins, their bats were a no-show for most of the game. After the Max Kepler leadoff single in the second, Minnesota’s lineup went 0-for-14 against Arihara, with the only runner produced by the Twins coming off a hit-by-pitch on Jorge Polanco. Fortunately, what was lacking on offense was compensated on defense, as a couple of nice defensive moves by Polanco and Kepler helped get Ryan out of a two-men on and no outs jam in the top of the sixth.
Ryan himself made a fine catch on a comebacker to end the sixth inning, and he was allowed to get to the seventh. Then, for a fourth consecutive inning, he allowed the leadoff man to reach with an Adolis García single – only his second hit allowed on the day. He retired the next batter, and Rocco Baldelli decided to remove him from the game.
Texas breaks the game open with good baserunning, home run
After the single to lead off the seventh against Ryan, García stole second and was suddenly on third after a groundout. When Trevor Megill took over, he hit Leody Taveras, who also stole second. Megill managed to strike out Kole Calhoun for the inning’s second out, but he couldn’t finish things off. He gave up three consecutive singles, and Texas scored three more runs to make it 4-0. It would’ve been four if the Twins hadn’t challenged and overturned a tag play at home to end the inning.
In the same inning, the Twins nearly put together a rally for themselves. Arihara came back with a healthy 65 pitch count, but he lost the first two batters of the seventh in Polanco and José Miranda, who hit back-to-back singles. This prompted manager Chris Woodward to pull him from the game. With Tim Beckham pinch-hitting for Nick Gordon, a fifth pitch of the at-bat was initially called a ball that was going to load the bases with one out. Instead, first base umpire Malachi Moore said he went around for a swinging strike. Beckham ended up striking out, and Gio Urshela flied out, ending the Twins' threat.
With Emilio Pagán pitching in the eighth, Nathaniel Lowe obliterated a splitter deep into the right field for a 424-feet solo shot, making it 5-0 Rangers. This was basically the final nail in the coffin for the Twins in the afternoon, but the Rangers didn’t stop there. By opening the ninth inning with three consecutive singles, Texas pushed another run across on a Brad Miller RBI. With men on the corners, Semien flied out to right, deep enough to score Bubba Thompson from third.
With the postponement of Sunday's Guardians game against the White Sox, the Twins (62-57) are still just a game and a half behind Cleveland (64-56) and one game ahead of Chicago (62-59).
Postgame interviews
What’s Next?
The series continues on Monday, with both teams squaring off at Target Field starting at 6:10 pm CDT. The Twins will get Sonny Gray (3.11 ERA) to the mound for this final game, while Texas will turn to Cole Ragans (5.02 ERA) for the start. After wrapping up the Rangers series, Minnesota heads to Texas for a three-game set against the Houston Astros starting on Tuesday before coming back to the Twin Cities for a six-game homestand.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
| WED | THUR | FRI | SAT | SUN | TOT | |
| Pagán | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 74 |
| Megill | 13 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 15 | 52 |
| López | 0 | 0 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 29 |
| Duran | 18 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Thielbar | 0 | 0 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 28 |
| Fulmer | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| Jax | 12 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 23 |
| Sands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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