Joe Ryan strikes out eight as Twins blank Mariners

Right-hander Joe Ryan struck out eight batters over six scoreless innings, and the Minnesota Twins held on for a 2-0 win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
Kody Clemens hit a solo home run for Minnesota, which snapped a five-game losing streak and won for only the second time in its past 13 games. Willi Castro also drove in a run.
Seattle managed only three hits in the game, all of which were singles. Cal Raleigh, who leads the big leagues with 32 home runs, finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Ryan (8-3) allowed three hits in six scoreless innings. The veteran starter walked none and threw 61 of 93 pitches for strikes.
Mariners right-hander George Kirby (1-4) took the hard-luck loss despite limiting Twins hitters to one run on three hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out three.
Twins closer Jhoan Duran pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his 11th save. He finished with no walks and one strikeout.
The Twins broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth.
Byron Buxton started the scoring opportunity when he singled to center with one out and advanced to second base on a groundout by Trevor Larnach. In the next at-bat, Castro delivered a two-out single to right to drive in Buxton.
Clemens hit a solo home run to double the Twins’ lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh. He jumped on the first pitch he saw and hit a 389-foot blast to center for his ninth homer of the season and his second in as many games.
Twins relievers Louis Varland, Griffin Jax and Duran combined for three scoreless innings to preserve the shutout.
The Twins had not blanked an opponent since May 17, when they shut out the Milwaukee Brewers. Minnesota had allowed six-plus runs in its previous five games.