KANSAS CITY, MO. – The Twins' Far-Above-Average Joes finished off a season-opening sweep.
Joe Ryan gave up only one run over six innings to reinforce his domination of the AL Central rivals, Joey Gallo crashed a double off the right-field wall and two home runs far, far over it, and the pair combined to deliver a 7-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium.
About the only disappointment for the Twins this weekend came when Ryan's second-inning fastball to Edward Olivares landed in the waterfall beyond the left field wall, ending their team-record 19-inning shutout streak to open a season.
Unless … Ryan was intending to spoil that string of zeroes all along?
"I told [Monday's starter Tyler] Mahle that right after [Olivares] hit it — 'Hey, you're welcome. I took the pressure off. You can just relax and go pitch now,'" Ryan joked. "You don't want to give up runs, but hey man, it was bound to happen at some point. So I'll wear that one for the team."
Generous of him. Ryan wasn't so kind to the Royals, whom the 26-year-old righthander has absolutely subjugated since joining the Twins staff. Even with an uncooperative slider on this day, he said, he managed to hold Kansas City to three hits and 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, yet another masterful performance against the Royals.
In five career starts against Kansas City, Ryan is 5-0 with a 1.20 ERA, having given up four runs in 30 innings with 32 strikeouts. He even threw in a fastball against Bobby Witt Jr. in the first inning that was clocked at 96.0 miles per hour, by MLB's StatCast system's judgment the fastest pitch Ryan has thrown in his career.
But Ryan's superlative isn't the one Twins fans will remember about Sunday's game. Three games into the season, and the Twins are already getting the full Joey Gallo Experience.