Joe Ryan threw seven scoreless innings, Ryan Jeffers and Ty France each drove in two runs and the Minnesota Twins posted a 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday in Minneapolis.
Ryan (2-2) allowed just four hits, struck out 11 and walked one, as the Twins completed a three-game sweep of Los Angeles. Carlos Correa has three hits and Trevor Larnach went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the win.
Los Angeles’ Jose Soriano (2-4) allowed five hits over five innings, surrendering four runs (three earned), striking out four and walking one. Luis Rengifo was the only Angel to muster two hits, as the club dropped its fifth game in six tries.
Minnesota got on the board in the bottom of the first. Edouard Julien led off with a walk, Correa doubled and France hit a one-out sacrifice fly.
Ryan then struck out five of the next six Los Angeles batters, before Zach Neto’s double and Logan O’Hoppe’s walk placed runners on first and second with two outs in the fourth. Ryan escaped the inning with a strikeout of Travis d’Arnaud.
Minnesota tacked on in the sixth, with Correa singling to right and Larnach reaching on third baseman Rengifo’s error. France then doubled in Correa to give the Twins a 2-0 lead, chasing Soriano from the game.
Brock Burke came in for relief and allowed Jeffers’ two-run double.
The Angels threatened in the seventh when d’Arnaud hit a two-out double and Rengifo added a single to place runners at the corners. Ryan then struck out J.D. Davis on three pitches to end the frame.
Ryan Zeferjahn pitched the bottom of the seventh for Los Angeles, allowing Harrison Bader’s leadoff double and Larnach’s two-out RBI single, which pushed the Twins’ lead to 5-0.
Justin Topa threw the final two innings for the Twins, getting d’Arnuad’s game-ending groundout.
