WATCH: Royals Bobby Witt Jr. Breaks Up Twins' No-Hitter in 9th Inning
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan rode a no-hit bid through seven innings in his club's 6-3 win over the Kansas City in Minnesota Tuesday night, until he was pulled by manager Rocco Baldelli at 106 pitches.
Ryan tossed seven scoreless, no-hit innings, striking out nine and walking two. Ryan did not come out to pitch in the eighth inning, however. With the Twins leading 6-0 and Ryan at 106 pitches, Baldelli opted to go to reliever Jovani Moran. Moran worked through a clean eighth inning, sitting down Nick Pratto, Nate Eaton and Kyle Isbel.
With a combined no-hitter still in play entering the ninth, Moran struck out Drew Waters, then ran into trouble.
Moran proceeded to walk Hunter Dozier and MJ Melendez. After a short mound visit, Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. smoked an RBI-double, breaking up the no-hitter with one away in the top of the ninth.
The Royals would score two more runs off a Sebastian Rivero single and a Vinnie Pasquantino sacrifice fly.
Though the no-hitter and the shutout was lost, Moran was able to settle down, striking out Nick Pratto and giving the Twins a 6-3 victory over their division foe.
With the win, the Twins improve to 70-70 and remain five games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central race. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Twins.
The Royals fall to 57-85 this season and remain in fourth place in the American League Central.
The two teams will meet again Wednesday and Thursday in the final series between the two teams in 2022.
