Guardians Rout Twins With Seven Homers, Leave Joe Ryan One Shy of Record

The Cleveland Guardians hit seven home runs in a 13-4 rout of the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, and six of them came off All-Star right-hander Joe Ryan. It tied the modern-era record for homers allowed by one pitcher in a game and left Ryan one shy of a mark that has stood since 1886.

The outburst came from a Cleveland lineup that entered the night with the third-fewest home runs in baseball. It hit Ryan less than a week after he threw a scoreless inning at the All-Star Game, and it landed at the moment Minnesota has to decide whether its own ace is worth trading before the Aug. 3 deadline.

Six Swings, One Wrecked Start

Ryan did not survive the fourth inning. He allowed a career-high 10 hits and eight runs, the second-most in his six-year career, and threw all four innings without issuing a single walk.

Cleveland scored three runs in the first inning alone. Brayan Rocchio golfed a two-run shot to left, and Rhys Hoskins followed with a solo drive of his own, also to left field.

The Guardians kept swinging in the second. Travis Bazzana drove one to right-center for his second homer in three games, and Petey Halpin, who entered the night without a home run in the majors, matched him with a drive to the same spot.

Hoskins added a second solo shot to left in the third. Halpin followed in the fourth with his second homer of the game, and of his career, closing the book on Ryan’s outing.

Here is the full run against Ryan:

• 1st inning – Brayan Rocchio, two-run drive to left
• 1st inning – Rhys Hoskins, solo shot to left
• 2nd inning – Travis Bazzana, drive to right-center
• 2nd inning – Petey Halpin, drive to right-center, his first career homer
• 3rd inning – Hoskins again, solo shot to left
• 4th inning – Halpin again, his second homer of the game and his career

Patrick Bailey added Cleveland’s seventh homer in the seventh inning, a leadoff shot to center off Woo-Suk Go. Minnesota acquired the reliever earlier this year in a trade with Detroit. It was the only one of the night that didn’t come off Ryan.

How Rare Is a Six-Homer Game for a Pitcher?

It has happened only a handful of times since 1900, and the outright record predates modern baseball entirely. Charlie Sweeney gave up seven home runs pitching for the St. Louis Maroons on June 12, 1886, and no one has matched him in the 140 years since.

Sweeney’s afternoon was worse than Ryan’s in almost every way. He surrendered 21 hits in a 14-7 loss to Detroit, and the seven homers were, at the time, a strange footnote on a pitcher who had won 41 games combined just two seasons earlier. He was released by the Maroons within weeks and out of the major leagues within two years.

Since 1900, a handful of pitchers have allowed six in a game, including R.A. Dickey of the Texas Rangers in 2006. Ryan is the newest name on that list. The six also set a Minnesota franchise record, one that reaches back to the club’s decades as the Washington Senators. Ryan’s previous worst outing had been five homers allowed, which happened twice, most recently in 2023 at Atlanta.

Cleveland’s Power Outage, Interrupted

Before Monday, the Guardians had hit just 94 home runs all season, tied with Tampa Bay for the third-fewest total in the majors. Cleveland has stayed competitive in the AL Central this year on pitching and contact hitting, not power, which made Monday’s display a genuine outlier rather than a sign of things to come.

It was only the sixth time in the franchise’s 125 seasons that Cleveland has hit at least seven home runs in a single game, and the first time it happened at home since a 2013 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Monday’s game was also the fourth time this season any team has hit at least seven homers. The Chicago Cubs did it first, hitting eight in a 23-3 win over the San Diego Padres on July 1.

Two Sluggers Below .200 Carry the Night

Halpin came into the game batting .194. Hoskins was even colder, his average down to .177 after going 1 for 6 against Pittsburgh over the weekend.

Both left with two home runs apiece, the first time two Cleveland players have each gone deep twice in the same game since Jose Ramirez and Carlos Santana did it against the Yankees in 2019.

For Halpin, it was uncharted territory. He had never hit a major league home run before Monday. He hit two in the same night, both to right-center, both off Ryan.

An Aggressive Approach Meets a Hot Lineup

Ryan’s identity as a pitcher makes Monday’s line even stranger. He led the majors with 20 starts before the All-Star break, working to a 2.85 ERA, built by attacking hitters rather than pitching around them.

That approach did not change Monday. He threw four innings, allowed six homers, and still didn’t walk a batter, the same pattern that has defined his season.

Walks are bound to happen, they are part of the game. He hates them as much as anyone I’ve seen, hating walking people. He’s always on the attack.

Pablo López, Ryan’s teammate, said that about Ryan’s mentality earlier this month. López has missed the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery and watched Ryan take over as Minnesota’s rotation anchor in his absence.

Six days earlier, Ryan had been a story for a very different reason. He earned his second straight All-Star selection and threw a scoreless inning at Citizens Bank Park, allowing one hit and striking out two.

“It’s déjà vu getting to run it back with Buck,” Ryan said before the break, referring to longtime teammate and All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton. “So I’m just really excited,” he added.

A Complication for the Trade Deadline

Ryan is in the final year of arbitration eligibility on a one-year, $6.1 million contract he signed in January. It carries a $13 million mutual option for 2027, the kind of structure that usually means at least one side walks away.

Minnesota enters the stretch tied with Seattle for the final AL Wild Card spot and within a few games of the division-leading White Sox and Guardians. The division race itself has been a surprise all year. The White Sox lost more than 100 games in each of the last three seasons and have spent this summer as one of the sport’s more unexpected contenders alongside Cleveland.

The trade deadline closes Aug. 3, and Twins beat writers have already begun asking whether a suddenly competitive club would deal its own ace rather than build around him. Monday’s line won’t settle that question by itself, but a 6-6 record and a 3.38 ERA, up from 2.85 before the game, is a different pitch than the one Ryan was selling a week ago in Philadelphia.

Ryan is next scheduled to start this weekend at home against the Athletics.