Joe Ryan starts Minnesota Twins toward 2-1 victory over Pittsburgh Pirates and Paul Skenes

Kody Clemens, an infielder whose family tree suggests he knows something about intimidating pitchers and great matchups, downplayed the intimidation factor before the Twins faced Pirates All-Star Paul Skenes on Friday.

“Baseball’s hard, you know,” said Clemens, the son of a seven-time Cy Young winner. “He might leave one over the middle today.”

He did. A classic baseball mistake, too — the hanging curveball.

Trevor Larnach was the recipient of the defenseless middle-of-the-plate breaking pitch, a mere 84 mph from the ace whose fastball regularly hit 98. Larnach cranked a line drive 106 mph and watched it land in the flower pots atop the wall in right field.

The two-run blast, Larnach’s 12th home run of the season, spoiled Skenes’ otherwise-as-advertised excellence and delivered the Twins’ fifth win in seven games, 2-1 at a packed Target Field.

A Nelly postgame concert likely contributed to the first sellout of the season, with attendance announced at 40,100.

“I saw him in spring training, thought I saw most of his arsenal, but damn, he surprised me,” said Larnach, and his shock was understandable: With six other pitches at his discretion, Skenes throws his curveball, on average, roughly three or four times per start. “Man, he was painting. My first at-bat, I didn’t get anything to hit. Everything was low and on the corners. Obviously, he’s a really good pitcher.”

Here’s the thing, though: So is Joe Ryan, who will be in the opposite dugout from Skenes on Tuesday at the All-Star Game in Atlanta. Ryan outpitched last year’s NL Rookie of the Year, an outcome that seemed unlikely three innings in. Ryan gave up three hits and two walks during those innings, even loading the bases in a 34-pitch first inning, while Skenes mowed down all nine Twins hitters he faced, including striking out the side in the first inning.

But Ryan persevered, settled down and matched Skenes’ five innings — without a home run to doom his effort. Ryan gave up a two-out, run-scoring double to Isiah Kiner-Falefa but no other runs. And neither team’s bullpen allowed the score to change.

“That was a heck of a game,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It was an interesting beginning, but he figured some things out, particularly with his offspeed pitches. He had to find a way to make it work, which he did, which he has done many times before, and he got through it, and then really settled in, did a really nice job.”

Indeed, it was the 11th time this season that Ryan has given up fewer than two runs, and the Twins are 7-4 in those games. The loss was sort of typical for Skenes, too — it was his 10th in a row in which he has given up five or fewer hits, and the 16th time he has given up two or fewer runs. Skenes’ ERA rose to 2.01, still easily the best in the major leagues.

But he fell to 4-8 with the loss, and the last-place Pirates are now 9-11 when he starts.

All because of one fat pitch on a 3-2 count.

“I didn’t want to chase down in the zone, especially with a guy [Byron Buxton] in scoring position. At least try to put the ball in play,” Larnach said. “I just went for it. Thought it had a chance — I was kind of yelling at it to go over [the wall].”

His big chance was set up by more Buxton magic: The center fielder, back in the lineup after a day off to let the soreness in his left hand subside from getting hit by a pitch Wednesday, beat out an infield hit to open the fourth inning, then slid into second ahead of the throw on what looked like a double-play grounder.

BOXSCORE: Twins 2, Pittsburgh 1

MLB standings

“Man, he’s just ridiculous. He’s electric to watch. Unbelievable,” Larnach said. “Beat out a double play, that’s insane. Like, that’s priceless to have.”

The Twins got one other big play, this one on defense. Tommy Pham hit a Louie Varland pitch off the limestone facing atop the right field wall, just missing a tying home run. He hustled toward second, but defensive replacement DaShawn Keirsey Jr. read the carom perfectly and fired a strike to Carlos Correa, who tagged Pham out as he slid into the base. But Correa had to be helped off the field because of a sprained right ankle.

“Our right field, it’s a very challenging overhang. He put himself right in the right spot and then he made just a fantastic throw for the out,” Baldelli said. “That’s about as good as you can do it.”