Joe Ryan survives early struggles as Twins beat Bucs ace

What looked like a classic pitchers duel before the contest took certain twists and turns on Friday with one ace looking rock-solid but losing and another ace struggling early but winning When all of the weather-delayed action was over the Minnesota Twins gave up the field in favor of a postgame Nelly concert and escaped to their clubhouse with a - win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a three-game series Minnesota All-Star hurler Joe Ryan - had to work through the first two innings as his pitch count climbed He fell behind in the fourth inning but got bailed out by just enough offense Pittsburgh right-hander Paul Skenes - looked untouchable for three innings only to surrender a Trevor Larnach homer in the fourth which won the event When you get several opportunities you really have to take advantage Twins manager Rocco Baldelli revealed crediting speedy leadoff hitter Byron Buxton for out-running a likely double play before Larnach s homer Trevor who was trying to fight through the at-bats that he s had in the match to that point gets one and hammers it And to beat one of the very good pitchers in the leagues sometimes that s how you have to do it Jhoan Duran got the final three outs for his th save of the season as the Twins improved to - on their current homestand With the foreseen tying run on second in the ninth Duran struck out Isiah Kiner-Falefa to end the competition Ryan escaped the first inning without allowing a run but only after giving up a walk and a pair of hits which loaded the bases The second hit was a hard shot back to the mound by Oneil Cruz that deflected off Ryan s glove and was credited as an infield single Trainers gave Ryan a cursory glance but he stayed in the match His th pitch of the frame got Ke Byran Hayes to pop out to second ending the threat That s several for the first two three innings Ryan disclosed of the -pitch first A little too much for the first By contrast Skenes threw a dozen first inning pitches and struck out the Twins side He needed just pitches to retire the first nine Twins he faced in order The Pirates put runners on base in each of the first four innings and broke through with two outs in the fourth Isiah Kiner-Falefa s double to right rolled all the way to the warning track and the throw beat Spencer Horwitz at the plate but Twins catcher Christian Vasquez could not field the ball cleanly The second time through the order went notably better for the Twins who got an infield single from Buxton and they took the lead two batters later when Larnach dropped his th home run of the season into the front row of seats in right center Larnach had struck out in his first at-bat but figured out Skenes hurriedly Honestly he got me on my first at-bat I think it was - Kind of pounding the zone Larnach declared I didn t want to chase down especially with a guy in scoring position At least try to put the ball in play or get jammed Recognized all that and just went for it The ball was a line drive which initially looked like it might glance off the wall I knew it had a chance I was kind of yelling at it to go over Larnach commented I thought it hit the rail at first and then I saw the umpire signal home run Thankfully it did go over Skenes was lifted after five innings having allowed five hits and recording six strikeouts Ryan who was named to his first All-Star Meeting this week also went five innings allowing five hits while striking out five Minnesota s Danny Coulombe Brock Stewart Louis Varland and Griffin Jax pitched in relief to get the tournament to Duran Twins shortstop Carlos Correa who singled in the sixth had to leave the encounter an inning later with an apparent leg injury Tommy Pham batting for the Pirates with one out hit a line drive off the top of the wall in right field DaShawn Keirsey Jr played the carom perfectly and fired to second as Pham tried to stretch for a double Correa applied the tag for the out but Pham s helmet hit Correa s right leg which was planted on the bag Correa rolled to the ground in immediate pain and was helped off the field His injury was officially classified as a mild right ankle sprain by the Twins Correa has had surgery on that ankle previously and has a metal plate which made the collision feel worse initially I felt my ankle get stuck to the bag and then could feel the vibrations going through my plate I m ultra sensitive when it comes to that stuff my ankle My brain right away went to a dark place stated Correa who hopes to play on Sunday in the Twins final championship before the All-Star break But once we got back in the clubhouse the X-rays were clean I started putting weight on it It didn t feel like I fractured it which when I tried to put my foot down I felt that vibration going throughout my entire bone At that point I knew I was fine It was a scary moment I inquired to play the day after but they declared that would be irresponsible The crowd of was the Twins first sellout of the season Battle of the series is Saturday at p m with Pittsburgh right-hander Mike Burrows pitching for the visitors The Twins had not named a starter as of Friday night Related Articles Baldelli says marquee pitching duel is must-see TV Twins prep for all scenarios ahead of Sunday s first round of the MLB Draft Twins can t complete sweep as Cubs bats completely wake up Byron Buxton misses Cubs series finale with hand bruise Will he be back this weekend Byron Buxton leaves tournament with injury Twins beat Cubs once again