Twins overcome loss of Ryan to beat Blue Jays

(Minneapolis, MN/Learfield News) — The Minnesota Twins overcame the early departure of starting pitcher Joe Ryan and beat Toronto yesterday in Minneapolis, 4-2. The all-star right-hander only threw nine pitches yesterday before leaving the game with right elbow soreness. The Minnesota bullpen followed with eight-and-two-thirds innings of two-run ball. Andrew Morris earned his first big league win with three-and-two-thirds innings of shutout ball. Taylor Rogers, Eric Orze, Kody Funderburk, and Justin Topa also all worked out of the pen. Second baseman Luke Keaschall, first baseman Kody Clemens, and outfielder Matt Wallner each had R-B-I doubles in the win. Victor Caratini drove home the first run of the game. Minnesota and Toronto split the four-game series. The Twins improved to 15-20 this season with yesterday’s win, but dipped into fifth-place in the A-L Central, only three games behind the top spot. The 16-18 Blue Jays are in third-place in the A-L East. Minnesota is off tonight and will open a three-game interleague series at Washington tomorrow night.