Larnach hits two-run HR, Ryan outpitches Skenes as Twins beat Pirates 2-1

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Trevor Larnach hit a two-run homer, Joe Ryan outpitched Paul Skenes. and the Minnesota Twins beat Pittsburgh 2-1 on Friday night to hand the Pirates their seventh straight loss.

Ryan (9-4) allowed one run and five hits with two walks and five strikeouts in five innings. He threw 54 of his 86 pitches for strikes and has surrendered two runs or fewer in 14 of 18 starts this season. The Twins used five relievers to close it out with Jhoan Duran pitching the ninth for his 15th save in 17 opportunities.

Skenes (4-8) allowed two runs and five hits with six strikeouts in five innings. He fanned Matt Wallner looking to end the fourth for his 300th career strikeout. He struck out the side in order in the first on 12 pitches. Skenes threw 53 of 78 pitches for strikes and is winless in his last eight starts dating to May 28 despite allowing two runs or fewer in 17 of 20 outings.

Both pitchers had their starts moved up so they would be available to pitch in Tuesday's All-Star Game in Atlanta.

Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth when Spencer Horwitz singled and scored on a two-out double by Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

Byron Buxton beat out a grounder to third leading off the bottom of the inning after Skenes was perfect through three. Larnach hit his 13th homer one out later to put the Twins up 2-1.

Hortwitz singled with one out in the ninth and pinch runner Jac Suwinski stole his fifth base to get in scoring position. Duran struck out both Adam Frazier and Kiner-Falefa swinging to end it.

Twins shortstop Carlos Correa was helped off the field in the seventh after a collision at second base with the Pirates’ Tommie Pham.

Skenes is the 17th pitcher in history — and the first Pirate — to reach 300 strikeouts in his first 43 starts.

The Twins haven't announced a Saturday starter opposite Pirates RHP Mike Burrows (1-2, 3.63 ERA).

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Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa (4) leaves a baseball game after sustaining an injury during the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Jhoan Duran celebrates after forcing the final out of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan delivers during the third inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

U.S., Danish and Greenlandic officials have met face to face to discuss President Donald Trump's ambitions to take control of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark. At the same time, Denmark and several European allies are sending troops to Greenland in a pointed signal of intent to boost the vast Arctic island's security.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said after a meeting in Washington on Wednesday with his Greenlandic counterpart, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio that a “fundamental disagreement” remained. He acknowledged that “we didn't manage to change the American position” but said he hadn't expected to.

However, Wednesday's events did point to ways ahead.

Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. agreed to form a high-level working group “to explore if we can find a common way forward,” Løkke Rasmussen said. He added that he expects the group to hold its first meeting “within a matter of weeks.”

Danish and Greenlandic officials didn't specify who would be part of the group or give other details. Løkke Rasmussen said the group should focus on how to address U.S. security concerns while respecting Denmark's “red lines.” The two countries are NATO allies.

“Whether that is doable, I don't know,” he added, holding out hope that the exercise could “take down the temperature.”

He wouldn't elaborate on what a compromise might look like, and expectations are low. As Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen put it Thursday, having the group is better than having no working group and “it's a step in the right direction.” It will at least allow the two sides to talk with each other rather than about each other.

Trump has argued repeatedly that the U.S. needs control of Greenland for its national security. He has sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals.

Just as the talks were taking place in Washington on Wednesday, the Danish Defense Ministry announced that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland, along with NATO allies. France, Germany, Norway and Sweden announced that they were each sending very small numbers of troops in a symbolic but pointed move signaling solidarity with Copenhagen.

The U.K. said one British officer was part of what it called a reconnaissance group for an Arctic endurance exercise. The German Defense Ministry, which dispatched 13 troops, said the aim is to sound out “possibilities to ensure security with a view to Russian and Chinese threats in the Arctic.” It said it was sending them on a joint flight from Denmark as “a strong signal of our unity.”

Poulsen said that "the Danish Armed Forces, together with a number of Arctic and European allies, will explore in the coming weeks how an increased presence and exercise activity in the Arctic can be implemented in practice,” he said.

On Thursday, he said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” and to invite allies to take part in exercises and training on a rotating basis, according to Danish broadcaster DR.

While the European troops are largely symbolic at this point, the timing was no accident.

The deployment “serves both to send a political signal and military signal to America, but also indeed to recognize that Arctic security should be reinforced more," said Maria Martisiute, an analyst at the European Policy Center in Brussels. "And first and foremost, this should be done through allied effort, not by the U.S. coming and wanting to take it over. So it complicates the situation for the U.S.”

The European efforts are Danish-led and not coordinated through NATO, which is dominated by the United States. But the European allies are keen to keep NATO in play, and Germany said that “the aim is to obtain a well-founded picture on the ground for further talks and planning within NATO."

Poulsen has said he and Greenland's foreign minister plan to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Monday to discuss security in and around the Arctic. NATO has been studying ways to bolster security in the Arctic region.

“I’m really looking forward for an announcement of some kind of military activity or deployment under NATO’s framework,” Martisiute said. “Otherwise there is indeed a risk that ... NATO is paralyzed and that would not be good.”

Sylvain Plazy in Brussels contributed to this report.

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

An Airbus A400M transport aircraft of the German Air Force taxis over the grounds at Wunstorf Air Base in the Hanover region, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 as troops from NATO countries, including France and Germany, are arriving in Greenland to boost security. (Moritz Frankenberg/dpa via AP)

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

A man rides by on a quad bike past a row of Greenlandic national flags in Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)