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Amid Trade Speculation, Minnesota Twins Ace Joe Ryan Climbs Franchise History Books
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan (41) pitches in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on July 20. Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Minnesota Twins ace Joe Ryan struck out 11 over seven innings on Sunday afternoon as the Twins beat the Colorado Rockies 7-1.

The Twins moved to 48-51 with the win, while the Rockies dropped to 24-75. Ryan moved up the team's record books with his performance as well, per @StatsCentre:

Most career double digit strikeout games by a @Twins pitcher (since the franchise's 1961 move to Minnesota):
39- Johan Santana
36- Bert Blyleven
23- Camilo Pascual
19- Jim Kaat
14- Dave Boswell
12- Frank Viola
11- Joe Ryan (Via 10 on Sunday)
11- Francisco Liriano
11- Jose Berrios

Ryan, who's emerged as a hot trade deadline name, is now 10-4 with a 2.63 ERA. It doesn't appear as if the Twins want to trade him, but teams will undoubtedly ask about his availability.

An All-Star this year, Ryan is in his fifth season, all with the Twins. He's 43-30 lifetime with a 3.67 ERA. This season, he's struck out 132 batters in 116.1 innings. He's won double-digit games for the third time in his career.

In addition to his work on the mound, the Twins also got a multi-home run game from Royce Lewis, which were his third and fourth blasts of the campaign.

Minnesota will continue its westward swing on Monday night when they visit the Los Angeles Dodgers. The reigning World Series champions, they were just swept by the Milwaukee Brewers.

First pitch is set for 10:10 p.m. ET as young right-hander David Festa pitches against Shohei Ohtani.

Festa is 3-3 with a 5.25 ERA. Ohtani is 0-0 with a 1.00 ERA in nine innings.

This article first appeared on Fastball on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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