An Olympic-Sized Performance, Joe Ryan Fans Nine In Saints Debut As Saints Win 7-4

ST. PAUL, MN (August 20, 2021) - Minnesota Twins fans waited a few weeks to see the debut of one of the prizes in the Nelson Cruz trade, right-handed pitcher Joe Ryan. He exceeded expectations. Ryan fanned the first six batters he faced and struck out nine in his debut as the St. Paul Saints defeated the Iowa Cubs 7-4 on Friday night at CHS Field in front of 8,209. The win sends the Saints to 51-41, 10 games over .500 for the first time this season, and they are now just 0.5 game out of first place behind the Toledo Mud Hens.

Ryan started the game by fanning the first six hitters he faced, four swinging and two looking. It wasn’t until the third when the I-Cubs put the ball in play as the first hitter of the inning, Trent Giambrone, grounded out to second. After a walk to Erick Castillo, Ryan fanned Levi Jordan and got Ian Miller to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

In Ryan’s final inning he made his only mistake of the night, a solo homer from Nick Martini, his 11th of the season. Ryan fanned the final two outs he recorded and went 4.0 innings allowing one run on one hit while walking one and striking out nine.

Meanwhile the Saints utilized the wildness of the I-Cubs pitching staff in the first to put up six runs. Jose Miranda and Trevor Larnach started the inning with walks. A wild pitch moved them up to second and third. Byron Buxton’s sacrifice fly gave the Saints a 1-0 lead. Tomás Telis and Mark Contreras followed with walks to load the bases. Jimmy Kerrigan’s RBI single to left put the Saints up 2-0. Ben Rortvedt’s walk forced in a run to put the Saints up 3-0. With two outs Drew Stankiewicz walked to force in another run making it 4-0. Jose Miranda made it 6-0 with a two-run single to left-center.

Ryan Mason picked up where Ryan left off. He worked a perfect first 2.0 innings of relief and struck out five of the six batters he faced. Mason started the seventh and gave up an infield single to Trayce Thompson before getting Greg Deichmann to line out to end Mason’s night. He went 2.1 shutout innings allowing one hit while striking out five.

The Saints tacked on run in the seventh as Larnach led off the inning with a single to right. With one out, Telis extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single to right that sent Larnach to third. With two outs a Kerrigan RBI infield single put the Saints up 7-1.

In the ninth the I-Cubs got a three-run homer from Jordan, his second of the season, but they would get no closer as the Saints have taken three of the first four games in the series.

The same two teams meet in the fifth game of a six-game series on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. Both teams are TBA. The game can be seen on Bally Sports North and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.