BALTIMORE -- Joe Ryan was absolutely brilliant, but his offense couldn’t take advantage of multiple opportunities and the Twins lost their opener to the Orioles, 2-1, at Camden Yards on Thursday.
Following a stop-and-start spring when he dealt with back inflammation early in camp and made only three starts, Ryan looked like his peak midseason self against a dangerous lineup in a hitters' ballpark. He allowed one hit over 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his second career Opening Day start.
Ryan, whose velocity had been down a bit in the spring, averaged 93.9 miles per hour on his four-seam fastball and got a total of 16 swinging strikes on 85 pitches. He threw six types of pitches and kept the O’s off balance all afternoon.
However, the Twins' bullpen couldn’t keep Baltimore in check. A string of singles and a sacrifice fly against Kody Funderburk and Justin Topa in the seventh put the O’s ahead and they did not relinquish the lead.
Meanwhile, the Twins created numerous chances against Baltimore starter Trevor Rogers but could not convert. Minnesota got its leadoff hitter on base five times but could not turn any of those into a run. Byron Buxton finally got the Twins’ offense going a bit when he tripled and scored on Luke Keaschall’s sac fly in the eighth, but it was not enough.
Twins hitters grounded into three double plays and went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, that lone hit being a Keaschall infield single in the third. They left a total of seven runners on base, but of course that does not include the three who were erased on double plays.