Twins 7, Rockies 1: Joe Ryan Stays Hot, Royce Lewis Erupts as Twins Avoid Sweep

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Joe Ryan: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K (88 Pitches, 67 Strikes, 76.1%)
Home Runs: Matt Wallner (11), Royce Lewis 2 (4), Harrison Bader (12)
Top 3 WPA: Ryan (.307), Kody Clemens (.116), Bader (.086)
Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs):

The roller coaster hit a little dip these past few days. After riding some positive momentum into the All-Star break that included some key series wins against good teams and Byron Buxton going bananas, the Twins headed to Coors Field to play a Rockies team that made the 2024 White Sox look competitive—and lost the first two games. Then, Royce Lewis threw some barbs at the team for benching him, in a single game, during a season in which his OPS starts with a '5'. 

On the plus side, these are still the Rockies, and All-Star Joe Ryan was starting for Minnesota. Ryan looked sharp and was remarkably efficient, requiring just 44 pitches to complete the first four innings of his outing, and 88 pitches overall in seven innings. He left one ill-advised sinker up to the hot-hitting Mickey Moniak in the third, but was otherwise in total command, locating his fastball and mixing in his splitter and slider just enough to keep Rockies hitters honest.

The Twins were tasked with facing Germán Márquez, and fortunately, this isn’t 2018, which was the last time he had an above-average strikeout rate. Márquez walked two in loading the bases in the first inning, but Matt Wallner struck out on three pitches in non-competitive fashion to end the inning. A nifty hit-and-run with Harrison Bader and Christian Vázquez led to another scoring chance in the second, but Trevor Larnach grounded into a double play to end yet another threat. 

They would break through in the third. Willi Castro drew a leadoff walk, Kody Clemens tripled and although Clemens was tagged out on the contact play in the next at-bat, Wallner atoned for his earlier failure by launching a two-run home run that seemed to still be rising as it soared into the first row in right field (112 MPH).

Lewis would also atone for his vent sesh with Dan Hayes by hitting a towering 451-foot home run in the fourth against lefty reliever Ryan Rolison. Harrison Bader would add a solo shot of his own an inning later, a rare opposite-field homer for the center fielder.

Meanwhile, Ryan was on cruise control, as the historically bad Rockies offense could not make contact against his fastball. Ryan induced 12 swings and misses on his fastball, and it felt like more, as he seemed to ditch the concept of waste pitches. That was validated in the seventh, as Ryan tried to sneak a two-strike curveball past the Rockies' most established hitter, Ryan McMahon, and it got blasted for a double. He would recover with a strikeout and weak pop-up to finish off his day.

Lewis would add his second homer in the eighth inning, off a hanging changeup from Jimmy Herget.

Stray Observations:

• Lewis has a knack for giving some of the most disturbing quotes to the media. Talking about a cascading effect of all his injuries with Hayes, saying he doesn't slump, that he doesn't want to play second base, and talking about ignoring game plans in favor of doing his own improv at the plate have all left us with weird tastes in our mouths. Maybe this multi-home run game will get him to talk less, for his own benefit.
• Willi Castro had an interesting game, cutting down a runner at second trying to stretch a single into a double, then hitting a long fly ball in the ninth that looked like it might carry over the fence. He would get a triple instead, and then score on the throw to third for a Little League homer.

What’s Next: David Festa (3-3, 5.25 ERA) faces Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 1.00 ERA) of the Dodgers as the Twins face a slight shift in competition. Ohtani is amazing, but has only pitched in short stints so far this year returning from Tommy John surgery. Last time out was a three-inning outing, his longest of the year. Festa has been mostly good of late, since he got his head knocked in against Milwaukee in June.

Postgame Interviews:

Coming soon

Bullpen Usage Chart: