Joe Ryan sharp in rehab start with Saints, who beat Indianapolis 8-5

Twins right-hander Joe Ryan let his pitching do the talking Friday night at CHS Field — literally.

Ryan, who made a rehab start with the Saints on Friday night at CHS Field, was not available after the game after striking out seven in four innings of work, including six in the first two innings of the Saints’ 8-5 win over Indianapolis.

The only hit Ryan allowed was a one-out home run in the third inning. He walked two.

“His cutter and his splitter both looked really good,” said Tony Wolters, who enjoyed catching Ryan on Friday. “He was really focused on getting ahead early, and he did a real good job with that.”

The Twins placed Ryan on the injured list on Aug. 3 due to a left groin strain. Ryan last pitched for the Twins on July 26, when he allowed four runs in 3 2/3 innings in a loss to Seattle.

From Wolters’ perspective, Ryan is ready to return to the majors.

“He’s ready because of his competitiveness,” Wolters said. “Yes, he has God-given talent, but his competitiveness, and what he sees with hitters, that’s what makes him ready. He knows his strengths.”

Wolters said Ryan wasn’t looking for strikeouts.

“I felt like he was just trying to execute his pitch,” Wolters said, “and making the movements of his pitches smaller — not jerky and out of the zone. He did a really good job of honing his cutter and splitter.”

The home run came on a fastball, but Wolters said the pitch was not a mistake.

“The guy changed his swing a little bit and got him,” Wolters said. “He was expecting a fastball, and Joe’s fastball is not something a lot of guys have. So if you get beat with your strength I’m fine with it.”

Speaking to members of Twins media prior to Friday night’s game at Target Field, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli anticipated that Ryan would be limited to 60 to 65 pitches, but said things could change once he took the mound.

Ryan was at 60 pitches after three innings. He retired the Indians in order in the fourth, needing only 11 pitches.

“It really doesn’t matter to me that much,” Baldelli said, “as long as he’s built up enough to be able to potentially go into his next start and have pretty close to a full start at that point. And you can make a jump from 65 pitches to 85 pitches, and that’s no big deal.”

Baldelli was noncommittal on whether Ryan would need only one rehab start.

“I’m not really thinking anything at this moment, because we want to see how he feels, how he throws the ball, how everything goes,” he said. “There’s no need to make any sort of statements here about anything. We’ll see how he pitches. I hope he pitches well and it goes smoothly and it makes some of the decisions easy for us at that point.

“But I think it’s important, and he knows how important it is, to go out there and focus on this rehab start and take it to heart and throw the ball the way he would if it were his first start back here.”

Briefly

Left-hander Brent Headrick, recently sent down by the Twins, replaced Ryan and pitched two hitless innings before allowing four runs in the seventh. Headrick, who pitched in relief for the Twins, is set to rejoin the Saints’ starting rotation. … Saints second baseman Austin Martin hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning to break a 5-5 tie. … Andrew Stevenson hit his 15th home run of the season to lead off the first inning for the Saints.