The St. Paul Saints promoted Twins star outfielder Byron Buxton's return to CHS Field as Friday's star attraction.
Joe Ryan on mound upstages Byron Buxton in center for Saints on Friday
Ryan struck out nine in four innings and only allowed one hit — a solo homer.
August 21, 2021 at 5:33AM
It was recently acquired U.S. Olympian and young righthander Joe Ryan who startled and starred instead in a 7-4 Class AAA victory over Iowa. He did so in his first start for the Twins organization, who traded veteran slugger Nelson Cruz for him last month.
Buxton went 0-for-2 with a fly out to right, a strikeout and a first-inning sacrifice fly also hit to right field. He didn't have any action in center field before he left the game after five innings, once he reached three at-bats.
His night in center field was so uneventful partly because Ryan was so good in his debut.
Ryan fanned the first six batters he faced, seven of the first nine and nine total in the four innings he pitched before he approached his pinch count. The Saints scored six of their runs in an 11 at-bat first inning when Iowa pitchers — yes, plural — walked six and threw a wild pitch.
"He attacked everybody, he looked confident on the mound, he's got good stuff," Saints manager Toby Gardenhire said. "He was pretty good. He is good."
Ryan allowed a fourth-inning, line-drive home run down the right-field line. It was the only hit, run or ball hit out of the infield he surrendered.
"I was kind of bored out there," Saints third baseman Jose Miranda said slyly afterward.
He also walked one, struck out those nine — 49 of his 62 pitches were strikes — on a night he located his high fastball well and threw a slider and changeup off it.
"I'm just going to make pitches until they take the ball away," Ryan said. "I try not to set a goal of how many innings I want to go or what I want to do. That puts a little too much pressure and you start making tense pitches rather than fill it up."
Those six consecutive strikeouts to start the game. The seven of nine. The nine in four innings.
Who's counting?
"I think my most is nine [to start a game], but it might have been eight," Ryan said. "I don't know if I actually got nine, but not in Triple A."
Ryan hadn't pitched a game in 16 days, not since he threw in an Olympic semifinal in Tokyo that he had called "amazing" for its tension and outcome.
But Friday's game had something the Olympian spectacle didn't have.
"There's fans in the stands tonight," Ryan said.
The Saints e-mailed fans on Friday promoting Buxton return, saying "He's Back! In the Lineup Tonight Through Sunday" while noting tickets are available all weekend.
Buxton received a partial standing ovation from a still-arriving audience when he was announced and stepped to the plate batting third in the Saints' lineup.
Buxton started in center field in his second rehabilitation trip in St. Paul this season. He played three games there in June on his way back from a May hip injury that sidelined him for nearly six weeks. Three games after his return, his left hand was broken by a pitch in a June 22 game against Cincinnati.
He hadn't played since then, until Friday night.
Buxton worked out multiple days at Target Field and had a live batting-practice session Thursday in St. Paul while his team played the Yankees in New York. When it went well with no soreness or setback, Buxton started Friday for the Saints.
"The sheet I had said three at-bats or seven innings on defense," Gardenhire said about Buxton's restrictions. "After the third at-bat, it was good to me."
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said Friday from Yankee Stadium by Zoom call that Buxton could get Saturday off and play again Sunday — or he could start both days, depending on how his left hand feels.
"Truthfully, it should be a pretty straightforward discussion," Baldelli said before Friday's big-league game. "We should know tonight before we go to bed what the plan is."
