Twins waste Joe Ryan's seven strong innings, fall to Marlins for third loss in a row

Phil Miller, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jul 1, 2025

Published in Baseball

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MIAMI — When Kyle Stowers appeared to be hit by a Joe Ryan fastball in the second inning Tuesday night, the Twins challenged the call. Video showed they were right, and the pitch was ruled a foul ball instead.

Much to the Twins’ regret.

Stowers trudged back to the plate and resumed his at-bat, and two pitches later, he blasted a middle-of-the-plate splitter from Ryan into the right-field seats for a solo homer. It turned out to be the only run Miami would need, though they added another in the eighth inning in the Twins’ third consecutive loss, 2-0 to the Marlins at LoanDepot Park.

And while the reprieve that Stowers received by being forced to continue hitting was a comical storyline to the game, for Twins fans, this night’s results were far more ominous. You can rationalize the lack of offense over the weekend in Detroit, after all, where the Tigers own the second-best ERA in the American League and the best overall record in the majors.

But the Twins traveled 1,400 miles south after that series, and a roughly equal distance down the MLB standings, to play a team with far less talent than the Tigers and, yet, nothing changed. The Twins managed only two hits Tuesday, never advanced a runner past second base and appeared as collectively befuddled as they have all season.

For one thing, it was the third straight game in which the Twins appeared unaware that play had begun. Just as they had Saturday and Sunday, the Twins’ first seven times at bat flew by with little resemblance of a threat. The Twins’ offensive totals in the first seven innings since Saturday: two runs, eight hits (six of them singles) and zero excitement.

Heck, 18 innings have gone by since a Twin touched third base.

On Tuesday, the Twins made fifth-year right-hander Edward Cabrera look like a future Cy Young winner, sending 24 hitters to the plate to face him and watching 21 come back to the dugout discouraged. Cabrera is having a strong season for the Marlins, having posted a 2.36 ERA in nine May and June starts, but this was a masterpiece. Despite Cabrera continually falling behind in the count, the Twins did little with his mix of sinkers, sliders and change-ups.

Cabrera retired the first seven hitters he faced before Royce Lewis, in his first game back from the injured list, punched a chopper down the left-field line for a double. Cabrera simply retired the next two hitters, Christian Vázquez and Byron Buxton, on called third strikes, then retired 10 more Twins in a row.

Willi Castro ended the silence in the seventh by beating out an infield hit to third base, then stealing second. Matt Wallner even drew a two-out walk, but Cabrera struck out Brooks Lee to finish his longest start of the season, pumping his fist and shouting for joy as he walked to the Marlins dugout.

Ryan, perhaps auditioning for an All-Star invitation to be announced Sunday, was almost as good in a wasted effort. The righthander allowed only five hits over seven innings, all except Stowers’ revenge mere singles.

But for the third time in his last four starts, Ryan appeared sharp — and the Twins lost anyway.

The Marlins tacked on a second run in the eighth inning against Louie Varland, the first he has allowed since May 27, 11 scoreless appearances ago. That one came after Jesús Sanchez hit what appeared to be a home run, but video revealed had hit padding and Buxton’s glove, keeping it in play for a triple. Two batters later, Nick Fortes knocked in the insurance run with an opposite-field single.