Box Score
SP: Joe Ryan 5.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (93 pitches, 62 strikes (66.7%)
Home Runs: Matt Wallner (18,19)
Bottom 3 WPA: Ryan (-0.338), Brooks Kriske (-0.134), Brooks Lee (-0.035)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
Reunions are supposed to be fun. This week, the Twins are in Toronto, and they can see trade deadline departures Louis Varland and Ty France in the same visit, as well as former hitting coach David Popkins. Alas, Monday night’s portion of the reunion was far from fun.
Early Game Woes Once Again
Twins starter Joe Ryan continued a negative trend from the weekend. As Mick Abel and Taj Bradley each had rough starts to their respective outings, Ryan got hit hard early in Monday night’s game.
The Blue Jays got to Ryan for four runs in the first inning, highlighted by an Alejandro Kirk two-run home run to right-center field. The second inning also saw Ryan give up a homer, this time on a ball that traveled to center field off of Andrés Giménez’s bat. An early 5-0 deficit is not what the Twins needed with their de facto ace on the mound, after a weekend filled with similar starts to games.
Thankfully, like the weekend starts, Ryan was able to settle in and mainly control the Blue Jays lineup the rest of the way in his five innings.
Wallner Wrecks Baseballs
The Twins would find some offense against veteran Max Scherzer. They hit a few balls hard with no joy, but Matt Wallner finally broke through.
Wallner got the Twins on the board with their first run in the fourth inning, smashing a home run to right field for his 18th dinger of 2025. He wasn’t done there. After Byron Buxton was able to score on a Brooks Lee groundout to make the score 6-2, Wallner stepped up to the plate with Trevor Larnach on base and launched his second home run of the night on a first-pitch fastball from Scherzer, to shorten the Blue Jays lead to 6-4.
As Wallner collected that 19th home run of the season, he also landed himself his second career multi-homer game. Both multi-homer contests and long balls with runners on base are developments this Twins offense will welcome going forward.
Bullpen Struggle Looms Large Again
While the 6th inning scoring burst created momentary optimism, it was quickly wiped away during the Blue Jays’ half of the inning. As Ryan exited the game, Brooks Kriske entered. It felt like deja vu for this writer, as once again, the Twins game was quickly buried while the right-hander was on the mound. Four hits, two walks, and four runs later, the score was 10-4, and any positive momentum seemed to disappear.
As players continue to audition for 2026, Génesis Cabrera did put together a solid two innings of work for his résumé. Cabrera was able to work around a walk to Kirk and get out of the inning by only facing four batters in his first inning of work. Cabrera did issue a second walk in the eighth inning, but was able to work around it as well, with the help of a double play turned by the defense behind him.
What’s Next?
The Twins will send Bailey Ober to the mound to try to end the three-game skid. Ober will need to rebound from his own struggles of late to bring that to fruition. The Blue Jays counter with veteran right-hander Chris Bassitt and his 4.18 ERA.
Postgame Interviews
Coming soon
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN
MON
TOT
Hatch
0
0
54
0
0
54
Kriske
10
0
0
0
37
47
Ohl
0
0
0
46
0
46
Cabrera
0
17
0
0
22
39
Topa
0
32
0
0
0
32
Tonkin
32
0
0
0
0
32
Funderburk
0
21
0
0
0
21
Sands
0
14
0
0
0
14