Joe Ryan Gives Up 9 Hits In Rain-Soaked 13-9 Twins Loss

Kansas City, MO – Joe Ryan has been a Kansas City Royals killer for most of his career. Through 11 career starts entering 2026, he owned a 2.02 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 66 strikeouts, and allowed just 15 walks against them.

His last start against them on September 6, 2025, was a different story. It was Ryan’s first loss against the AL Central foe. He allowed five runs on four hits and walks through just two innings of work. That downward trend continued on Wednesday night, when the Royals beat Ryan and the Minnesota Twins, 13-9, in a 3-hour, 36-minute affair.

Despite being down 12-1 after six innings, Minnesota's lineup rallied for eight runs in the final three innings, topped off with a three-run homer from Josh Bell. Despite coming up short on a win, the Twins put together better at-bats as the game went on.

“There were some ugly parts of that game, starting with the weather,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton. “But I think the thing that I’m most proud of… I mean, we end the game with two guys on base, and we clip a ball there, so yeah, I was pleased at the end. I thought early on our at-bats could be more consistent, but I was pleased with how we continued to grind through it.”

The weather affected Ryan's velocity

Joe Ryan had everything working against him: downpouring rain, patient at-bats from Royals hitters, and quick ones from the Twins. His fastball velocity was also down. He topped out at 94 MPH and averaged 92.2 MPH, down 1.7 MPH on average from his last outing.

"The velo being down, I’m going to contribute that a little bit to the fact that it was 40 degrees and rainy," Shelton said. "I mean, at one point, I don’t even know if I could see Buck (Byron Buxton) with the fog rolling in. So, I’m going to attribute the velo to that. It did not look like he was comfortable on the mound, also, so it just wasn’t typical Joe Ryan execution."

Ryan concurred with his manager’s assessment.

"I felt like I was getting into a little bit more of a rhythm early," he said. "I felt like a little bit off, then I was finding it again, and then the rain kicked in, everything was pretty wet already. Mound was pretty soft before the game even started."

Just as he was getting into the rhythm in the bottom of the second with two out, the Royals rallied for four straight hits, denying Ryan a chance to get back into sync.

“It's tough to get out there, and you don't have a footing,” said Ryan. “Then, cleats pack up pretty quick which is tough. I mean, I could go down a whole list of things, but I know it's tough on defense as well. It's always going to be tough. The rain is coming down and, a couple of different things, weak little hits here and there stack up, and it just makes it harder to hold onto the baseball, command the baseball, and it's a tough one.”

Ryan Jeffers shows ABS mastery

If there was anything for Twins fans to cheer for in this game, it had to have been Jeffers' three successful ABS challenges behind home plate. Each missed call by home plate umpire Andy Fletcher that Jeffers challenged eventually turned the at-bat into a strikeout for Ryan in the first and for Cody Laweryson in the fifth.

Jeffers entered the night 2-for-5 with his challenges. Still, the rainy conditions, which fogged up the field of vision for most players, had no impairment on his strike zone judgment.

“At the end of the day, I think it’s pretty simple,” said Jeffers. “If you think it’s a strike or you think it’s a ball, you should challenge it. I think some people at the end of the day will know the strike zone better. It’s a skill. It’s a trackable skill now.”

Things got weirder once Ryan exited the game

After Joe Ryan exited the game, everything turned into a strange dance between both teams, as if they were all playing with two left feet. The Royals batted around in the sixth inning, setting up runs on hit batters, perfectly placed bunts, the occasional RBI walk, and a Jonathan India grand slam off Zak Kent.

In the next two innings, the Twins were able to get the bases loaded twice and at least score a run each time via Austin Martin. In the seventh inning, Martin drew an RBI walk on a successfully overturned strike call way outside the zone, to make it 12-2. Then in the eighth, he took a pitch inside to get another run in and make it 13-6.

While the Twins did take better at-bats in the latter innings of the game, it all came too little, too late as Kansas City's 7-run sixth inning put this one out of reach for them. The Twins scored three runs in the seventh inning to make it a 12-4 game, preventing them from having their first position player on the mound for the year. MLB rules require a 10-run deficit before a team throws a position player on the mound.

"I think at the end of the day, so far this season, we’ve put together competitive games," said Jeffers. "We haven’t capitalized when we needed to. Today was the first day it felt like it got away from us to some extent early. Being able to rally, and that always gives you confidence as a team and a unit to feel good in any situation, facing a closer, whatever the situation is."

The Twins will try to salvage a win in the last game of the series on Thursday afternoon. Taj Bradley takes the mound against Cole Ragans. First pitch is set for 1:10.