Twins sweep Angels behind seven scoreless innings from Joe Ryan

Joe Ryan started walking toward the dugout when he thought he had struck out Los Angeles Angels hitter Logan O’Hoppe on a full-count fastball at the bottom of the strike zone in the fourth inning Sunday.

Ryan stopped after a few steps and shook his head. A missed call resulted in his first walk of the afternoon.

His next response was striking out the next batter on three pitches.

The Angels didn’t stand much of a chance against Ryan, who struck out a season-high 11 batters across seven scoreless innings. Ryan generated a whiff on nearly half of the hitters’ swings in a dominant performance, leading the Twins to a 5-0 victory to complete a three-game sweep at Target Field.

“I was flowing, and I was feeling good,” Ryan said. “I was trying not to get ahead of myself, not think about too much and stay in the moment. I think that’s what I did the best job of today.”

It was Ryan’s 10th career start with a double-digit strikeout total, and it accentuated a winning homestand in which the Twins posted a 5-1 record against the Angels and Chicago White Sox.

When the Twins faced the White Sox and Angels in back-to-back series last April, it kickstarted a 12-game winning streak that propelled them out of their abysmal start to the season. It’s too early to know whether this homestand will have a similar effect, but the Twins won’t lose many games when Ryan is pitching like he did Sunday.

“We trusted that we were a really good team, but when we were losing as much as we were, it starts to get to the point where it’s hard to still believe in that,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “That’s just the reality of what it is. You start to doubt yourself a little bit. But when you start playing good baseball again, it kind of reminds you, yeah, we are really good.”

Ryan permitted four hits and one walk as he matched his longest start of the season. In his first time through the Angels batting order, he totaled five strikeouts and three foul outs.

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When Twins pitching coach Pete Maki asked Ryan how he was feeling late in his outing, Ryan told him he felt like he was floating on the mound. Everything was working. Ryan induced a staggering 26 whiffs on 56 swings (a jaw-dropping 18 with his fastball) and threw a first-pitch strike to 20 of his 25 batters.

“I think we’re going to get a lot more of that,” Jeffers said about Ryan. “There are some things he’s had to work through because he dealt with [a shoulder] injury and such a long time off. I think he’s starting to find those feels again to get his pitches how he wants them to be.”

Teammates marveled at a sweeper Ryan threw Kyren Paris for a sixth-inning strikeout because it had 30 inches of horizontal movement, effectively a wiffle ball. The pitch started over the middle of the plate and broke well into the other batter’s box.

“Had a little help from the wind, for sure, on those sweepers,” Ryan said.

Ryan didn’t need many defensive highlights behind him, but center fielder Harrison Bader provided one of the best catches of the Twins’ season in the seventh inning. Taylor Ward led off with a line drive that Bader tracked down with a diving catch in front of the warning track.

“That was an insane catch,” said Ryan, who kept his arms raised for several seconds before applauding Bader from the mound. “He’s been doing that all year, so it’s kind of expected at this point.”

BOXSCORE: Twins 5, Angels 0

MLB standings

The Twins broke out offensively with a three-run sixth inning, aided by a couple of defensive miscues. Carlos Correa hammered a ground ball that left his bat at 112.6 mph — his hardest-hit ball of the season — and the ball skipped past Paris, the Angels second baseman. Trevor Larnach, the next batter, hit a slow roller to third base, and Luis Rengifo booted the ball when he reached with his glove while charging forward.

Ty France hit an RBI double, giving the Twins their first run since the first inning, then Jeffers followed with a two-run double.

The Twins outscored the White Sox and Angels 31-13 on their homestand. Next up is a seven-game road trip, which begins with four games against Cleveland, the reigning American League Central champion.