Before the start of the eighth inning on Tuesday, fans at Target Field began to chant, "Joe, Joe, Joe," in appreciation of the pitching performance they were witnessing on the field.
Within minutes, they were booing more lustily than cheering. That's because Twins manager Rocco Baldelli took one Joe out — righthander Joe Ryan — and replaced him with another Jo — lefthander Jovani Moran — for the eighth inning.
Ryan had been terrific on a night the Twins eased their way to a 6-3 win over Kansas City in an attempt to get back in the heart of the AL Central race. On Tuesday, they found the formula for keeping their playoff hopes alive: Just have their pitchers take no-hitters into the late innings every night and that should do the trick. Cleveland and Chicago both won on Tuesday, so the Twins remain in third place, five games out of first in the division.
