Ryan goes seven strong behind career-high splitter usage

TORONTO -- Twins starter Joe Ryan has always been a confident guy. Whether it was on a little-league mound way back or in front of screaming Major League Baseball fans, the right-hander has always known his stuff plays.

With his California swagger, shaggy hair, and bright white smile, Ryan’s poised persona always sets him up to succeed. But this year, a few on-field alterations have made the 27-year-old the most complete version of himself yet. His splitter is more effective. A nastier sweeper has batters crossed up. In Friday's 3-2 win over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, Ryan turned to his improved pitches when his club needed him most.

“I felt fresh the whole time,” Ryan said, citing his splitter, which he threw a career-high 37 times, as one of his keys to success. “I felt like I could have gone even more.”

The tightwire act began in the fifth inning when a single and successful hit-and-run put runners on second and third with no outs. For a moment, panic set in. Twins relievers jumped around the bullpen, ready to get loose. Ryan had other plans. In a pinch, the righty assumed a more focused personality on the mound -- not a terminator or a wild showboat, but a slightly more stoic version of himself, purely locked in on his objective.

From the dugout, manager Rocco Baldelli watched with a degree of uncertainty. In his mind, Ryan wasn’t having his most crisp day, but he certainly deserved the chance to keep going.

“I think I've seen him look better,” said Baldelli. “But then I look up, and he's got like six punchouts [and] no walks … it was just another really, really good start from [Ryan].”

Ryan’s Houdini act began when he blew a two-strike heater past Davis Schneider for the first out. Then the big play happened. As the infield crept in, Daulton Varsho scorched a 103.2 mph line drive toward first base. On what looked like a sure-fire RBI base hit, Minnesota first baseman Carlos Santana snagged it, halting all the baserunners in their tracks and ensuring Ryan would eventually escape the inning run-free.

“It was sick to see him over there,” said Ryan, grateful for Santana’s clutch putout. “He's been so good all year.”

Ryan wrapped his day with seven innings of one-run ball, allowing six hits while striking out seven batters. If Ryan was the hero of this Twins win, Santana was his sidekick. In the top of the fifth, minutes before his nifty defensive snag, the veteran switch-hitter walloped a go-ahead solo home run. It was a thing of beauty, too.

Santana crouched and launched his hands at a 97 mph heater from Yusei Kikuchi. The ball sailed barely over the right field wall, a remarkable result given the offering was a few inches off the outside of the plate. Not many 38-year-old hitters are getting their barrel to that pitch, and the entire Twins dugout craned their heads to see if Santana’s big hack would keep the ball fair.

There was a massive cheer from the group when the ball clanked into the right-field seats. In a pitchers' duel where runs were scarce, that solo shot felt more like a three-run bomb.

“It was a challenge for both sides to put a lot of good swings together,” Baldelli said. “So that was big. Obviously one of the biggest swings of the game.”

And for those wondering, yes, the Twins’ lucky summer sausage made the trip north of the border. In fact, the magic meat even made a trip Friday up Toronto’s famed CN Tower, where a pair of Twins staffers smiled and posed with the sausage to document the event.

The sausage made an on-field appearance in the fifth inning, too, soaring from the dugout and boinking Santana on the helmet after his big home run.

“I’ll have a concussion tomorrow,” Santana joked afterward, a big smile on his face.

While the Twins cut it close with one run allowed in the ninth, Ryan’s gutsy effort and Santana’s timely blast lifted Minnesota to its fourth win in five days. Simple efforts get things done in pro baseball, and right now, the Twins are playing some of the smoothest baseball in the American League.

“When you win, you have fun,” Santana said. “We have a great team. We’re playing good. We have to keep continuing to play and take it one day at a time.”