Royce Lewis shines in '23 debut, Ryan Jeffers hits winning homer in 10th for Twins
Royce Lewis hit a three-run homer and came through with the game-tying, two-out RBI single in the ninth inning to give the Minnesota Twins life and they went on to beat the Astros 7-5 in 10 innings Monday in Houston.
Lewis's blast gave the Twins a 3-0 lead in the third inning. The 23-year-old, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, slugged four homers in eight games at Triple-A St. Paul during his rehab assignment before being recalled by the Twins earlier Monday.
Welcome back, Royce! 🚀#MNTwins | #MLB pic.twitter.com/47cJwnVXL8
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) May 29, 2023
Jose Altuve's grand slam in the seventh inning gave the Astros a 5-4 lead. Hit hit it off of Brock Stewart, who entered the game for Twins right-hander Sonny Gray, who had allowed one run through six innings before giving up a double and a walk to start the seventh.
Stewart replaced Gray and got a strikeout before a single loaded the bases. After another strikeout, Stewart was on the verge of escaping the jam when Altuve unloaded.
Brock Stewart threw this pitch right down the middle to Jose Altuve with the bases loaded. Mind boggling #mntwins pic.twitter.com/Lb0Dw32tzc
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) May 29, 2023
Lewis came to the plate in the ninth inning with two outs and runners at first and second and he laced an RBI single to center field.
Tie-game, Royce! #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/vv1ORdhMom
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 29, 2023
Then, leading off the 10th inning, Ryan Jeffers hit one of the hardest balls in the majors this season – and he ripped over the wall in left for the game-winning two-run shot.
Ryan Jeffers sends a LASER to left field and the #MNTwins take a 7-5 lead in the 10th! pic.twitter.com/uW1nAN1sfV
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) May 29, 2023
According to Statcast, the ball left Jeffers' bat at 117.4 mph. That ranks as the fourth hardest hit ball of the season The only players with a higher exit velocity this season are Aaron Judge (118.5 mph), Jake Burger (118.2 mph) and Willson Contreras (117.5 mph).
The Twins and Astros meet again Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.