11 October 2023
Joe Ryan was prepared to get the ball for Game 3 of the Wild Card Series in what would have been an elimination game. That game, because of a Twins sweep, never happened.
Ryan, who last pitched on Sept. 29 in Colorado, has had a long layoff since, but the starter is ready to take the ball at 6:07 p.m. Wednesday night for Game 4 of the American League Division Series with the Twins facing elimination. Ryan will be opposed by José Urquidy, Astros manager Dusty Baker announced after Houston’s 9-1 win over the Twins on Tuesday.
“He’ll be motivated,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’ll be ready to perform. I think he’s been waiting for his opportunity to go out there.”
Ryan said he hasn’t faced any hitters since the last game he started — just thrown bullpens — but said he’s ready for what will be the biggest start of his career to date. In fact, having that extra time to rest, he said, could be advantageous after a long season in which he threw a career-high 161 2/3 innings.
“I think just not knowing what I’m going to do has kept my mind pretty focused on just the thought process of pitching every day since then,” Ryan said before Tuesday’s game. “That’s been the thought process. It doesn’t really feel like it’s been that long.”
Though Ryan had said last week that he expected to get the ball for Game 4, he said he found out he would be getting the ball for the pivotal game on Monday. Ryan faced the Astros twice previously this year, giving up four runs in six innings in April and five runs in a four-inning start in May in Houston.
With the Twins needing a victory to force a Game 5 and the Twins’ best arms out of the bullpen well rested, Ryan’s start might not necessarily be a long one if he shows signs of trouble early.
“It will be fun to go out and compete against some guys,” Ryan said. “I guess it makes it easier with familiar faces to have a better plan (of) how to attack them.”
Kirilloff error key
Alex Kirilloff placed the blame firmly on himself for a first inning that went haywire for the Twins on Tuesday afternoon.
With a runner on and one out, Astros left fielder Yordan Alvarez hit a ball towards first base that stayed just fair and bounced just underneath Kirilloff’s outstretched glove. Alvarez ended up on second base as a result and Jose Altuve on third. Altuve would score on a Kyle Tucker RBI single, and Alvarez touched home when José Abreu hit a three-run home run one batter later.
“It’s a play that needs to be made,” Kirilloff said. “It just changes the complexion of the game right away, making that play, a double play ball to get out of the inning. It’s 0-0 and we’re coming up in the bottom of the first. It’s a different game. That’s on me. I take full responsibility for that.”
Lewis back at third
For the first time since Sept. 19 when he strained his left hamstring, Royce Lewis was back out at third base on Tuesday, a move that improved the Twins’ infield defense in multiple ways. Lewis, Baldelli said, is doing “significantly better.”
The rookie is a defensive upgrade at third over Jorge Polanco, who shifted to that position in his absence, and Polanco is an upgrade at second over Edouard Julien, who served as the Twins’ designated hitter on Tuesday.
“I think it would have been fine from day one, but it’s also like a thing that, between the trainers, the doctors and Rocco and staff, they’ve got to sometimes help me from hurting myself,” Lewis said. “So in a way, it was smarter for me to back off. I think it was the best decision.”
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