Minnesota Twins pitcher Joe Ryan continued his dominant month of September, striking out 11 batters in a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.
Ryan left his last start after being hit with a line drive but showed no side effects against the Cubs. After allowing a two-run single to Nico Hoerner in the second inning, Ryan went on a strikeout binge, fanning the last seven batters he faced.
According to the Pioneer Press’ Betsy Hefland, Ryan came within one batter shy of tying the franchise record for most consecutive strikeouts before being pulled in the eighth inning.
The Twins' record for most consecutive strikeouts is eight, set by Kenta Maeda last year.
Joe Ryan will not have a chance to go for it. He struck out the last seven batters he faced but will be removed after five innings for Juan Minaya.
Ryan fanned 11 in his start.
— Betsy Helfand (@betsyhelfand) September 23, 2021
Joe Ryan over here making it look easy:
5 IP
3 H
2 ER
1 BB
11 K*86 pitches, 57 strikes
*more than doubled his previous career-high of 5 K
*struck out the side 3 times pic.twitter.com/a1hGacW14l— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) September 23, 2021
With Ryan continuing the hot start to his career, he received plenty of support from Max Kepler. The outfielder smacked a two-run home run in the first inning and crushed a solo bomb in the fourth to put Minnesota ahead 3-2. An error allowed Kepler to score in the sixth and Andrelton Simmons added an RBI double before the Twins held on in the ninth to secure the victory.
But the bigger story is Ryan’s performance in September. Since being recalled on Sept. 1, the right-hander has a 2-1 record with a 2.45 ERA in four starts. Even with a small sample size, Ryan is making a strong case to be a part of the Twins’ 2022 rotation.
