Joe Ryan suffers shortest start of season, Twins don’t play clean defense in loss to A’s

Joe Ryan removed his cap and ran his right hand through his hair Tuesday night as he trotted off the mound after a 39-pitch fourth inning, in which three unearned runs scored, and then he sat on the dugout bench for the next several minutes reviewing his pitches on an iPad.

There haven’t been many moments this season when Ryan didn’t look in complete command.

Ryan was charged with giving up two earned runs in four innings, the Twins didn’t play clean defense behind him, and Ryan couldn’t pitch around it during a 6-3 loss to the Athletics at Target Field.

It was the first time Ryan failed to complete at least five innings all year.

“Much shorter [outing] than I would have liked,” Ryan said. “That gets frustrating.”

The Twins, who own the third-worst record in the American League, have lost seven of their last 10 games and are a season-worst 15½ games behind Detroit in the division.

BOXSCORE: Athletics 6, Twins 3

The fourth inning started with three plays that could’ve been made. Tyler Soderstrom hit a ground ball to shortstop on the first pitch of the inning, but Brooks Lee’s throw after he fielded the ball to his backhand pulled first baseman Kody Clemens off the bag.

Lawrence Butler, the next batter, followed with a one-hop rocket that spun off second baseman Luke Keaschall and bounced all the way to right field for a double. With two runners in scoring position and no outs, Ryan induced a slow ground ball against Darell Hernaiz in a 10-pitch at-bat, but Clemens dropped a throw from third baseman Royce Lewis for an error.

“We want to hold ourselves to a high standard, and we want to make all the plays for our pitchers,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Ryan, backed into a bases-loaded, no-out jam without a ball leaving the infield, struck out JJ Bleday on three pitches. Next up, Brett Harris lofted a fly ball into shallow right field. Keaschall caught the ball about six steps into the outfield, but Soderstrom opted to test his arm (Keaschall had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow last year and broke his right forearm this year).

Soderstrom, not known for his speed, beat Keaschall’s throw to the plate, scoring a run on a sacrifice fly to the second baseman.

The fourth inning snowballed further when Ryan surrendered an RBI single to Luis Urías, a line drive to right field, and Nick Kurtz added an RBI double into the right-field corner. Kurtz, who reached base in all five of his plate appearances, is the current leader to win the American League Rookie of the Year award.

If a three-run fourth inning could be chalked up to a rough defensive inning, Ryan hurt himself in the third. After retiring eight consecutive batters, Ryan issued a four-pitch walk to Kurtz with two outs. A’s catcher Shea Langeliers bashed Ryan’s next pitch, an inside sinker, to the metal bleachers in left field for a two-run homer.

“Exactly where I wanted to put it,” Ryan said. “There’s a lot of pitches we can throw there, but that one has shown up pretty good in that spot. ... He’s a catcher, obviously, too, so I feel like he reads situations a little differently.”

Ryan (12-6) permitted six hits, matching his second-highest total in a start this season. It was just the second time in Ryan’s last 10 starts that he gave up more than two runs, raising his season’s ERA to 2.77 through 143 innings.

A’s lefty starter Jacob Lopez (7-6) hadn’t allowed a run in his previous four starts, but his streak ended quickly. Lee reached on an error and Matt Wallner followed with a two-out RBI double that dropped in front of a diving center fielder.

“He’s slapping the ball around the yard,” Keaschall said of Lee. “That homer he hit today was super impressive, right-center field like that.”

Ryan Jeffers launched a solo homer with two outs in the fifth inning, and the Twins brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth. After back-to-back hits from Trevor Larnach and Keaschall — Keaschall has reached base in all 11 career home games he has played — Lewis skied an infield popup to end the threat.