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Minnesota Twins right-hander Joe Ryan walked into Daikin Park on Tuesday night with a 3.18 ERA and one of the best stretches of pitching in the American League this season.
He walked out with his worst outing of 2026 and a loss he knew fell on his shoulders.
Ryan lasted just four innings in the Twins' 6-4 defeat to the Houston Astros, giving up six runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
All of the damage came in the fourth, where Houston turned a 3-0 Minnesota lead into a 6-3 deficit.
The sequence that broke things open was painful.
Ryan walked Raynel Delgado, the number nine hitter, with two outs to load the bases.
That set up Jose Altuve, and Ryan got ahead 1-2 in the count before things fell apart.
Altuve laid off the final three pitches, and what Ryan believed was a strikeout on a 95-mph fastball was overturned on review, with the pitch landing just 0.6 inches off the plate.
"Yeah, it's a tough one," Ryan told reporters in Houston. "I could've been a little bit better there. I could've been better not to put myself in that situation maybe. He's a good, aggressive hitter. He chases out of the zone a lot, too, so you don't want to make a mistake in-zone and give him something he can hit."
Then came Yordan Alvarez.
The Astros slugger hammered a 395-foot grand slam that put Houston ahead for good, and it was his third grand slam in the month of June alone.
One bad inning does not erase what Ryan has done all season for a Twins team sitting at 41-46.
Even after Tuesday's rough outing, his numbers remain strong.
Ryan now carries a 3.61 ERA with a 1.08 WHIP and 113 strikeouts across 97.1 innings, numbers that still rank him among the better starters in the league on a club that was not expected to be competitive this year.
He has allowed 10 home runs in 18 starts.
Tuesday was his second straight rough outing after allowing four runs against the Dodgers on June 24, meaning he has given up 10 runs over his last two starts combined.
Before that stretch, he had turned in quality starts in five straight outings, so the body of work still speaks for itself.
The Twins are 4.5 games back in the AL Central and need everything Ryan can give them if they want to stay in the race.
Minnesota finished June with a 14-13 record, their first winning month since May of last year, and Ryan has been the biggest reason the rotation has held together despite injuries to Pablo Lopez and Bailey Ober.
Ryan faces the Cleveland Guardians next Tuesday at home, and after the season he has put together, one rough night in Houston is not going to change how the Twins feel about their ace heading into the second half.
Continue reading...
He walked out with his worst outing of 2026 and a loss he knew fell on his shoulders.
Ryan lasted just four innings in the Twins' 6-4 defeat to the Houston Astros, giving up six runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
All of the damage came in the fourth, where Houston turned a 3-0 Minnesota lead into a 6-3 deficit.
Ryan Knows He Could Have Been Better
The sequence that broke things open was painful.
Ryan walked Raynel Delgado, the number nine hitter, with two outs to load the bases.
That set up Jose Altuve, and Ryan got ahead 1-2 in the count before things fell apart.
Altuve laid off the final three pitches, and what Ryan believed was a strikeout on a 95-mph fastball was overturned on review, with the pitch landing just 0.6 inches off the plate.
"Yeah, it's a tough one," Ryan told reporters in Houston. "I could've been a little bit better there. I could've been better not to put myself in that situation maybe. He's a good, aggressive hitter. He chases out of the zone a lot, too, so you don't want to make a mistake in-zone and give him something he can hit."
Then came Yordan Alvarez.
The Astros slugger hammered a 395-foot grand slam that put Houston ahead for good, and it was his third grand slam in the month of June alone.
A Blip, Not a Trend
One bad inning does not erase what Ryan has done all season for a Twins team sitting at 41-46.
Even after Tuesday's rough outing, his numbers remain strong.
Ryan now carries a 3.61 ERA with a 1.08 WHIP and 113 strikeouts across 97.1 innings, numbers that still rank him among the better starters in the league on a club that was not expected to be competitive this year.
He has allowed 10 home runs in 18 starts.
Tuesday was his second straight rough outing after allowing four runs against the Dodgers on June 24, meaning he has given up 10 runs over his last two starts combined.
Before that stretch, he had turned in quality starts in five straight outings, so the body of work still speaks for itself.
Minnesota Needs Him Going Forward
The Twins are 4.5 games back in the AL Central and need everything Ryan can give them if they want to stay in the race.
Minnesota finished June with a 14-13 record, their first winning month since May of last year, and Ryan has been the biggest reason the rotation has held together despite injuries to Pablo Lopez and Bailey Ober.
Ryan faces the Cleveland Guardians next Tuesday at home, and after the season he has put together, one rough night in Houston is not going to change how the Twins feel about their ace heading into the second half.
Continue reading...
