Twins activate RHP Joe Ryan to start vs. Rangers

Minnesota Twins right-hander Joe Ryan has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list and will start Saturday's game against the visiting Texas Rangers in Minneapolis.

Ryan, who has been sidelined with a left groin strain, allowed one run on one hit in four innings of his rehabilitation start with Triple-A St. Paul on Aug. 18.

Ryan, 27, owns a 9-8 record with a 4.43 ERA in 22 starts this season with the Twins. He is 0-1 with a 2.84 ERA in one career start against the Rangers.

Saturday's game will be the first start since Aug. 2 for Ryan, who gave up seven runs on nine hits -- including four home runs -- over four innings in a 7-3 loss at St. Louis. It was after that defeat that Ryan revealed he had been trying to pitch with the groin strain he said he sustained while stretching before a 6-2 defeat at Atlanta on June 27.

Ryan has compiled an 8.63 ERA over seven starts before going on the injured list.

"The communication on this certainly has to be better, and he knows that," Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Before the injury, Ryan had an 8-4 record and 2.98 ERA and was coming off his finest game of the season, a three-hit shutout of the Boston Red Sox.

"I was trying to do it on my own," Ryan said. "Didn't probably take the best route to notifying everyone. I just tried to work through some stuff for a while. Thought I was getting there, and it just kept bugging me."

Also on Saturday, the Twins optioned rookie right-hander Jordan Balazovic to St. Paul.

Balazovic, 24, is 1-0 with a 4.44 ERA in 18 relief appearances this season with Minnesota.