Royce Lewis has only played in 15 majors since the majors Minnesota Twins Making him the No. 1 pick in the 2017 draft.However, if his start to the 2023 season is any indication, he has a flair for drama
On Monday, on the one-year anniversary of a second ACL injury to his right knee, Lewis finally returned to the big leagues and hit a three-run homer to help propel the twin beat Houston 7-5
Then on Thursday, in his first game back in Minneapolis since a knee injury, Lewis made a brilliant steal on a warning run at halftime, in the eighth inning of Minnesota’s 7-6 win. Lewis hit a two-run, tying homer in the win over Cleveland.
this twin and guardian Game 2 of the four-game series will be tied on Friday. Minnesota’s Bailey Ober (3-2, 2.68 ERA) will take on Cleveland’s Aaron Civale (1-1, 2.94) in right-hander matchup
lewis home run guardian Relief Trevor Stephan ran 421 feet across the center turf and landed about 25 feet from where he injured his knee a year earlier.It also set the stage for Willy Castro’s departure sacrifice after an inning
“It was huge,” Lewis said of the comeback victory over the defending American League Central champions. “It’s a big week for us. We (the series) beat the World Series champions, then went on to beat our division rivals…”
It was Lewis’ fourth home run in 53 career at-bats and 11 career RBIs.
“He took great, proven tricks,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. “This year we’ve seen some balls go into midfield and not leave the pitch, but it can’t stop him. He has something extra behind him.”
After the game, twin Seven-time batting champion and Hall of Famer Rod Carew tweeted about Lewis: “I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. This kid is special.
this twinwho lost Byron Buxton (rib soreness), Carlos Correa (plantar fasciitis) and Max Kepler (migraines) midway through the game, still managed to overcome the Cleveland bullpen in three games. A lot of work was seen in the two games in Baltimore earlier this week.
Steph gave up three runs in the eighth, Eli Morgan walked twice (one on purpose) and Jorge Polanco’s double before Castro hit the game-winning fly.
“We rely heavily on them,” Cleveland receiver Mike Zunino said of the team’s relievers. “You know, they’ve been very good to us. Hopefully we can get back together and start (Friday’s Civale) and start over.”
Civale will make his first start since a 5-3 loss to Seattle on April 7 when he strained his left oblique muscle. He produced a 4.91 ERA in three rehab starts at Triple-A Columbus.
Civale is 1-4 with a 4.20 ERA in eight career starts twinincluding going 0-2 with a 4.39 ERA over five games in Minneapolis
Ober, meanwhile, is 1-1 with a 1.64 ERA in four career starts against Cleveland.
big problem twin How long will they last without Buxton, who was hit in the ribs by Tanner Bibby at 97 mph, and Correa and Kepler
Baldelli said Buxton will have imaging of the ribs Friday morning, but he hopes for a positive result because the injury didn’t appear to get worse after he left the game.
Correa said he took a wrong step while pitching to first baseman Alex Kirillov between innings and the pain got worse in the inning.
“I didn’t even feel it today, and that step … completely changed my day,” Correa said Thursday. “We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
–Field-level media