Seven-run third inning powers Twins past Blue Jays

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Apr 11, 2026

Published in Baseball

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TORONTO – In front of a sellout crowd at Rogers Centre, a couple of home run swings from Brooks Lee and Trevor Larnach took the energy out of the building.

And Joe Ryan made sure to keep it that way in a 7-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday in front of an announced crowd of 41,591.

Ryan gave up a two-run homer to Daulton Varsho in the first inning, then dominated afterward. He yielded two hits and two runs in a season-high seven innings for his second consecutive victory.

The Twins exploded for a seven-run third inning, matching their highest run total in an inning this year as the batted around their lineup.

It started when Lee opened the second inning with a solo home run, lofting a fastball to the ledge of the left-field wall. The ball bounced over the wall, and Lee was rewarded with his second homer in as many games, both coming as a right-handed batter.

The Twins have homered in a Rogers Centre-record 25 consecutive games.

Toronto left-hander Eric Lauer then labored through his second trip through the Twins lineup. Byron Buxton reached on an infield single, a dribbler toward third base. Austin Martin lined a single to left field. The Twins loaded the bases after a walk, then scored the tying run with a bases-loaded, four-pitch walk to Ryan Jeffers.

Josh Bell followed with a fly ball that dropped in center field for a two-run single. Varsho, Toronto’s center fielder, was lined up too deep to make a play on the ball.

Two batters later, Larnach broke the game open with a three-run homer to right field, crushing a 91-mph fastball that sat over the middle of the plate. Larnach earned a rare start against a left-handed pitcher because manager Derek Shelton planned an off day for Matt Wallner, who was the only Twins player to appear in each of the first 14 games of the season.

Larnach’s first home run of the year was his third against a left-handed pitcher since the start of the 2022 season.

That was all the help Ryan needed to give the Twins their fifth victory in six games.

Ryan had the Twins in a two-run deficit after his first two batters. He issued a leadoff walk to George Springer, then watched Varsho crush an elevated 94-mph fastball into the Twins bullpen beyond the right-field wall.

It was the first homer Ryan surrendered this season.

Maybe Varsho’s homer had a calming effect. How else do you explain the way he dominated afterward? Ryan retired 20 of his next 22 batters, including his last 12 in a row. He plunked Nathan Lukes with a pitch to begin the second inning, and he immediately erased it with a double play.

Ryan had five innings where he threw 12 or fewer pitches. He started 19 of his 24 batters with a first-pitch strike, and it was like a chess grandmaster asking a novice to pick how he wanted to lose. A lot of pop flies. A lot of weak groundouts. And he sprinkled in some strikeouts.

Adding injury to a rough game offensively, Springer broke his left big toe when he fouled a pitch off his foot in the third inning, the team announced. The designated hitter completed his at-bat with a groundout, but he did not return. The Blue Jays already have three starting position players and three starting pitchers on the injured list.

Toronto finally cut into its deficit when Jesús Sánchez launched a two-run homer off Cole Sands, but the Twins right-hander retired the next three batters to finish off the game.

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