Ryan bested by five HRs as Braves jump on heater

ATLANTA -- It was a tale of two starts for Joe Ryan. In his previous outing against Boston, the right-hander delivered one of the best performances of his career, a three-hit shutout with nine strikeouts.

But in the Twins’ 6-2 loss to the Braves on Tuesday night at Truist Park, Ryan endured one of the roughest starts of his career. He yielded nine hits (including five home runs) and six runs in a career-low three innings to go with five strikeouts.

“It's a great team on the other side,” shortstop Carlos Correa said. “It seems to me like they really got on the machine before the game and hit some fastballs up in the zone. They were ready from pitch one.”

Ryan faced adversity early on. His go-to pitch -- the four-seam fastball -- that he had success with against the Red Sox got him in trouble vs. the Braves. Atlanta blasted three of them over the wall in the first.

Ronald Acuña Jr. clubbed a tying homer on Ryan’s first pitch of the game. Ozzie Albies hit a triple that set up Austin Riley’s two-run home run to left-center field. Then, Sean Murphy smashed a homer to center field for a 4-1 lead.

“Felt great bouncing back from the last start, and I didn't feel any extra fatigue or anything there,” said Ryan, who faced Atlanta for the first time in his career. “So on a season note, I think that's a good sign.

“But yeah, it was definitely frustrating. … They had a really good plan and probably took the best swings I've ever seen.”

Ryan entered Tuesday having thrown his four-seamer 59.4% of the time. He only threw it 49% against the Braves, which was the second-lowest percentage he’s thrown the pitch this season. Atlanta’s hitters were prepared for the fastball, with it only yielding three whiffs on 23 swings.

In contrast, Ryan threw the four-seamer 67% of the time against Boston, and it forced 12 whiffs.

But Ryan’s pitch execution was fine. He attacked the zone with his fastball, and his velocity resided around his 92.5 mph average.

“There was nothing wrong with [his] stuff,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “They were hunting fastballs from the very first pitch of the game, and they put good swings on them. That was really it.”

With his fastball spent, Ryan leaned on his offspeed pitches to record strikeouts. But that pitch selection got him in trouble, too.

In the second inning, Michael Harris II homered on an 0-2 sweeper, and Acuña followed suit with a full-count home run off a splitter. Ryan exited after the third in favor of Oliver Ortega, who was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul prior to the game.

The five homers allowed match Ryan’s career high and were the most he has given up since July 29, 2022, against the Padres. His 12-inning scoreless streak was snapped with Acuña’s leadoff homer.

“They came out swinging,” Baldelli said. “They came out, apparently, looking out there with a plan, and it wasn't a smooth start through and through. Just getting three innings out of Joe today. That was certainly all that we were going to get out of him, and we weren’t going to leave him out any longer.”

With the loss, Minnesota (40-41) dropped below .500, though it remained a half-game ahead of Cleveland (38-40) for first in the American League Central. Although the offense limited the strikeouts on Tuesday, it stranded nine runners on base and was 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

“We’ve got to wake up with people on base and get it done,” Baldelli said. “We had the baserunners. We had some at-bats that had some quality to them. We hit a few balls -- we were right in place for a double or a homer and a swing.

“It’s really, in a big way, the difference in the game.”