Even without Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton, Twins extend winning streak to 12 games

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MILWAUKEE — Carlos Correa is out with a concussion. Byron Buxton remains in concussion protocol, though the indications are that he’s not great, either. Even Willi Castro exited Friday’s contest with a right knee contusion.

In just 36 hours, the red-hot Minnesota Twins lost three of their most important position players. But with the way Twins pitchers are throwing the ball, it doesn’t seem to matter who’s in the lineup.

Joe Ryan continued his string of excellence and that of the overall pitching staff Friday night, striking out nine over six scoreless innings as the Twins extended their major-league-best winning streak to 12 games with a 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. The Twins offense provided Ryan with three early runs, and he and three relievers made it hold, striking out 16 batters in a five-hit shutout that improved the team’s record to 25-20.

That’s the Joe Ryan Experience 😤 pic.twitter.com/EKVlg3CSf5

— Twins.TV (@twinstv) May 17, 2025

The team’s stretch of 12 straight victories matches last year’s Rally Sausage run, though Ryan thinks the ingredients baked into the 2025 stretch are an indication of better play.

“It’s true baseball,” Ryan said. “It’s not flukes. It’s not errors. I remember a couple of the games last year, there was a bunch of errors. … It was bad defense. This feels like we’re playing really good baseball, and I think that’s a really good sign for the whole season.”

Four weeks after they’d nearly reached rock bottom, the Twins continued a streak few in the league saw coming. But what makes one think the team’s good play could have staying power is how the pitching staff continues to deliver, particularly the starting rotation.

Only 10 games into the season, Twins starters had a major-league-worst 6.90 ERA. Since then, the rotation’s 2.54 ERA is the best in baseball. FanGraphs also credited the bullpen with a major-league-leading 2.7 WAR entering Friday.

Though he didn’t feel sharp early, as evidenced by a 30-pitch first inning in which two Milwaukee batters reached base, Ryan quickly slid into a higher gear. Relying heavily on his four-seam fastball, Ryan peppered the zone and struck out the side in the second and third innings.

Even plunking Christian Yelich to start the fourth inning didn’t slow Ryan, who retired the next seven batters he faced.

The only time Ryan showed signs of faltering was in the sixth inning, when the Brewers started to hit several pitches hard. Brice Turang flew out to deep center, and William Contreras followed with a double. Yelich stung a groundout to second base, too. But Ryan shook it off to ring up Rhys Hoskins with a fastball for a called third strike and strand Contreras at third base.

Ryan, who boasts a 63-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio on the season, has a 1.08 ERA with 35 strikeouts and three walks in 25 innings over his last four starts.

“It’s just gorgeous stuff,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s controlling the at-bats by just dominating the strike zone early in the count. Joe did a great job of that, as did all the guys that followed him.”

Ryan credited an early three-run lead with making all the difference.

On the board in the first! pic.twitter.com/BJWtXTLvfW

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 17, 2025

With two on and one out in the first inning, Ty France singled in a run to give the Twins a lead. Two batters later, Kody Clemens took advantage of playing time created by Twins injuries with a two-out RBI single to give Ryan a two-run cushion.

An inning later, the Twins made it 3-0 after DaShawn Keirsey Jr. — another injury benefactor — Christian Vázquez and Trevor Larnach singled to load the bases ahead of Ryan Jeffers’ run-scoring double play.

After Ryan’s departure, a trio of relievers shut down Milwaukee with three one-inning stints. Brock Stewart struck out three, and Griffin Jax and Cole Sands whiffed two apiece. During this 12-game winning streak, Twins pitchers have featured a 2.23 ERA with 116 strikeouts and 23 walks in 109 innings.

Make it 12 in a rowwwwwwwwwwww! pic.twitter.com/BWqEo8pTyp

— Twins.TV (@twinstv) May 17, 2025

“The confidence is there,” Ryan said. “Vibes are great. It’s easy to play competitive baseball. All around, I feel like everyone is ready to go. … After the third inning, probably, I was like, ‘All right, it’s over.’ It felt good.”

Things weren’t quite as good in the Twins’ triage unit — er, clubhouse — before the game.

Hopeful they’d receive good news on Correa and Buxton a day after their scary outfield collision in Baltimore, the Twins didn’t hear what they wanted.

Before arriving at the ballpark Friday, the Twins indicated they would wait as long as possible to make a determination on Correa and Buxton as they endured a battery of concussion tests.

Yet roughly four hours before first pitch, Correa returned to the team hotel to rest, a decision that resulted in the activation of 30-year-old rookie infielder Ryan Fitzgerald. During Correa’s testing process, he passed some and failed others, Baldelli said.

The Twins were more hopeful about Buxton avoiding the concussion list, a possibility they foreshadowed by not adding an outfielder to the taxi squad alongside Fitzgerald. But just after first pitch, the Twins said Buxton would remain in the concussion protocol, a designation they can maintain for up to 72 hours of observation after the initial incident.

According to a Twins official: “(Buxton) currently is still being evaluated daily. Until he is in the lineup or not on the IL, he needs to clear hurdles in the protocol.”

Added to the taxi squad in case Correa needed to be placed on the concussion list, Fitzgerald drove five hours from Iowa City, Iowa, on Thursday night after playing in the first game of a doubleheader for Triple-A St. Paul and his flight to Milwaukee was cancelled. Raised in a Southwest Chicago suburb, Fitzgerald informed family and friends of the possibility of his debut after a career that began in Independent ball in Gary, Ind., in 2017, even though his spot wasn’t promised.

Having played seven of nine positions during a career in which he accrued 2,771 minor-league plate appearances, Fitzgerald offers Baldelli the positional flexibility he needed to keep the now-hobbled Castro out of the infield.

“I told Rocco, ‘If you want me to catch, just give me the gear — whatever you need,’” Fitzgerald said before the game. “Whatever gets me in the game.”

Asked for a scouting report, Fitzgerald offered: “Good hair. That’s No. 1. But, a hard player. That’s the only way you can get here on my journey is just playing hard.”

Fitzgerald’s opportunity likely arrived sooner than he or the Twins envisioned. Batting in the first inning, Castro, who was determined to be good after knocking the wind out of himself with a slide in the finale in Baltimore, fouled a pitch off his right knee and fell hard to the ground.

Castro eventually finished the at-bat with a strikeout and later returned to left field to start the second inning. But he exited before the third inning began, which brought on Fitzgerald. Castro’s exit sent Kody Clemens from second base to left field and resulted in Fitzgerald’s long-awaited debut at second. Batting in the third inning against Brewers starter Chad Patrick, Fitzgerald flew out to center field, part of an 0-for-3 night.

Afterward, Baldelli indicated Castro initially had trouble putting weight on his knee and could miss Saturday’s contest. With the status of Buxton and Castro up in the air, the Twins might need to dip into the minors once again for a fresh outfielder.

They could also see the return of outfielder Harrison Bader from a groin injury. Bader sprinted Friday and was trending in the right direction, Baldelli said.

“Losing those key pieces to your team, it hurts,” said France, who fouled another pitch off his right foot. “But every single guy in here prepares as if they’re the main guy on this team. They fill right in. Fitzy makes his debut and looks like he’s been here forever, so that’s one good thing about this group. This clubhouse, we’re here for each other, we’re here to pick each other up, and we’ve done a great job of that.”

Especially with the way Twins pitchers are throwing.

(Photo of Joe Ryan: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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