*Photo from the Bemidji Pioneer*
The youngster is making his mark so far. Royce Lewis homered, Willi Castro delivered the winning run, and the Minnesota Twins rallied to beat the Cleveland Guardians with a 7-6 walkoff victory on Thursday night in Minneapolis.
Trailing by 3 runs late, the Twins scored 3 in the 8th to tie it and one in the 9th to walk off a division rival in the Guardians. While it was Castro who drove in the winning run, the Twins wouldn't have been in that position without Lewis, who is playing well since returning from a torn ACL.
Minnesota shortstop Carlos Correa said of Lewis that "He brings a lot of energy, and obviously, a lot of talent. He's on fire out of the gate. That's a great player right there with a lot of talent. We saw what he can do last year for the short amount of time he was here. He's going to be a special player in this league."
Will Brennan gave the Guardians a 1-0 lead in the second inning with an RBI single. Max Kepler tied the game in the 4th with an RBI single of his own. In the 5th inning, Michael A Taylor hit a solo home run and Alex Kirilloff hit an RBI single to make it 3-1 Twins. The Guardians took a 6-3 in the 6th with RBI singles from Jose Ramirez and Josh Bell, a groundout from Andres Gimenez, and a two run single from Mike Zunino.
Donovan Solano started the comeback for the Twins in the 8th, making it a 6-4 game with an RBI double. With Solano on base, Lewis delivered the big hit, tying the game 6-6 with a two run home run to center field. In the 9th inning, Ryan Jeffers scored on a sac fly from Castro, giving the Twins a big walk off win.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Lewis's hit that "There’s a reason why he was so highly thought of as a young player. What he’s done so far, just in a couple games, we’re not winning these games unless he’s doing some of these things in these games."
Pablo Lopez got the start for the Twins, allowing 6 runs on 8 hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings, getting a no decision. Emilio Pagan pitched the next 2 1/3 innings scoreless, with Griffin Jax getting the win on a scoreless 9th inning.
It was Tanner Bibee who was the starter for Cleveland, getting tagged for 3 runs on 6 hits and a walk in 5 innings. Nick Sandlin and James Karinchak threw scoreless innings out of the bullpen before Trevor Stephan gave up 3 runs while pitching the 8th. Eli Morgan got charged with the loss by giving up the walk off in the 9th inning.
Zunino, the Guardians catcher, said of the bullpen struggle that "We’ve leaned on them heavily. Those guys have picked up some huge innings for us. Blip on the radar. But we’ll get back at it."
Up next, the series continues on Friday night. The Twins give the start to Bailey Ober, while Aaron Civale starts for the Guardians.
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