Joe Ryan continued his mastery over Kansas City, giving up just two hits over seven scoreless innings in the Minnesota Twins' 4-0 victory over the Royals on Wednesday night.
Ryan (1-1), who struck out four and did not give up a walk, is now 7-0 in nine career starts against the Royals with a 1.30 ERA in 55 1/3 innings.
"That was an exceptional outing from Joe," said manager Rocco Baldelli. "He looked great. He was in command of everything, it didn't look like they had good looks at him. It looked like the stuff was crisp. Another outing, no walks again. No walks on the year. The strike throwing. That just tells you the quality of the strike throwing, the ability for him to just do different things with the baseball and know where it's going."
Ryan referenced Pablo Lopez, who threw well on Tuesday night but is now on the injured list with a hamstring injury, as inspiration.
"I think just getting to watch Pablo the other night and see how he's rolling, I was just trying to take some of that energy into it," Ryan explained. "Defense played outstanding from the jump, so it's awesome. Julian doing his thing and I knew he was gonna come through with a good hit too after that. It was good to see. But yeah, it was just good energy all around, good defense. I feel like everyone was locked in, so it was great."
Seth Lugo (1-1) threw 109 pitches for the Royals, allowing two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings.
The Twins got a run in the fourth on Edouard Julien's RBI single to right. Lugo walked Carlos Correa and Trevor Larnach with one out. After Ty France lined one back to Lugo, Julien drove in Correa.
France's two-out single in the sixth drove in Correa for a 2-0 lead.
The Twins got runs in the eighth and ninth, as Matt Wallner and France, respectively, each hit his first home run of the season.
Key Moment
After the Twins took a 1-0 lead in the fourth, the Royals had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Bobby Witt Jr. led off with a double, but he was doubled up after attempting to steal third and not getting back to second when Salvador Perez lined out to center.
Key Stat
France was 3 of 4 Wednesday with a home run and two RBIs. In 30 career games against Kansas City, he's hitting .412, with a 1.154 OPS, his best against any opponent.
Up Next
Minnesota Twins (4-8, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (6-6, second in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Missouri; Thursday, 1:10 p.m. (12:30 pregame on WCCO Radio, 102.9 FM and the Audacy app (in-market restrictions apply)
PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Bailey Ober (0-1, 12.15 ERA, 2.40 WHIP, eight strikeouts); Royals: Michael Wacha (0-2, 4.66 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, seven strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Royals -124, Twins +104; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals take a 2-1 advantage into the next game of the series against the Minnesota Twins.
Kansas City has a 5-4 record in home games and a 6-6 record overall. The Royals have gone 2-0 in games when they scored five or more runs.
Minnesota has a 4-8 record overall and a 3-6 record in road games. The Twins have a 3-1 record in games when they scored at least five runs.
The teams play Thursday for the fourth time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Maikel Garcia has three doubles, two home runs and six RBI while hitting .308 for the Royals. Bobby Witt Jr. is 11-for-38 with four doubles, a triple and a home run over the last 10 games.
Matt Wallner leads the Twins with a .289 batting average, and has four doubles, a triple, a home run, six walks and two RBI. Ty France is 10-for-36 with a home run and four RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 5-5, .216 batting average, 2.90 ERA, outscored opponents by one run
Twins: 4-6, .208 batting average, 4.03 ERA, outscored by five runs
INJURIES: Royals: Mark Canha: 10-Day IL (hip), Dairon Blanco: 10-Day IL (achilles), Kyle Wright: 15-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 15-Day IL (elbow), Alec Marsh: 15-Day IL (shoulder)
Twins: Pablo Lopez: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Brock Stewart: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Brooks Lee: 10-Day IL (back), Royce Lewis: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Michael Tonkin: 15-Day IL (shoulder)