Joe Ryan shelled as Twins fall to Royals 11-2 for sixth consecutive loss

KANSAS CITY, MO. – The Twins have wandered into a playoff race this weekend at Kauffman Stadium. The effect is not much different than had they wandered onto the interstate highway just beyond center field.

Joe Ryan, battling a severe cold that sapped his energy, lasted only two innings Saturday night, and the Royals pounded the Twins 11-2 to remain one game out of the final American League playoff spot. It’s the Twins’ sixth consecutive loss, and the third time in that streak they have given up 11 or more runs.

“I woke up and it was more in my lungs, so I can’t get a deep breath, and that was tough,” Ryan said after surrendering his perfect record against the Royals — he was 8-0 in nine career starts against them until Saturday. “The energy levels were probably the most difficult part. I could see the stuff was there and there was some adrenaline like always. And then it was just like, after that many pitches, it was just inconsistent. [It was] ebbing and flowing.”

The only other two-inning start of Ryan’s career came last August at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, the day he walked off the mound with a shoulder injury that ended his 2024 season seven weeks early. This one appeared painful, too, in a different way.

The All-Star righthander gave up four runs before he retired a batter, opening the game with a pair of walks before Vinnie Pasquantino hit a double off the right-field wall. Salvador Perez followed by bashing a first-pitch fastball just short of the fountains behind the seats in left field, a three-run shot and Perez’s 36th career home run against the Twins.

Another walk and a double by Nick Loftin made it a five-run first inning, more runs in one inning than Ryan, who needed 33 pitches to get through it, had given up in all but three of his starts this year.

Ryan issued another walk and gave up another hit in the second inning, but threw 29 more pitches. That was enough for manager Rocco Baldelli, who turned to his overworked bullpen for the final six innings.

But “I never want to say something to be like, ‘Hey, I can’t throw today or whatever,’ ” Ryan said. “Just seeing how I was warming up, there wasn’t really much there. At the same time, I’ve had outings this year even where I’ve been under the weather and had good outings. So it’s tough.”

Understandable, though. “Sometimes you only know after the fact because you’re competitive,” Baldelli said. “Nobody wants to ask out of a game, but if you’re at that point, you will learn how to do that.”

Things didn’t go particularly well after Ryan was pulled, either. Thomas Hatch gave up a double and three singles in the third inning, adding three runs to Kansas City’s total, then a single and RBI double — rookie Carter Jensen’s first big-league hit, in fact — in the fourth. Hatch retired the Royals in order in the fifth, but Brooks Kriske relieved him in the sixth and gave up two more runs.

In all, the Royals collected five doubles and a home run in beating the Twins for the seventh time in 12 games this year, clinching the season series for the first time since 2021 with Sunday’s finale remaining.

“Obviously, not the game we wanted today,” Baldelli said. “We’re having a tough time right now.”

BOXSCORE: Kansas City 11, Twins 2

MLB standings

Only in the third inning did Kolek encounter any serious trouble, when James Outman led off with a double to left and Byron Buxton followed with his third triple in his last four games, driving in Outman. Two batters later, Buxton scored on Luke Keaschall’s groundout.

Buxton has eight hits in his past seven games, and all eight were for extra bases: three doubles, three triples and two home runs.