Another Day, Another Home Run with a Historic Impact For Minnesota Twins' Royce Lewis
![Minnesota Twins third base Royce Lewis (23) celebrates his home run against the Kansas City Royals in the second inning at Target Field on Aug 12. Minnesota Twins third base Royce Lewis (23) celebrates his home run against the Kansas City Royals in the second inning at Target Field on Aug 12.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3345,h_1881,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/fastball/01j55z2k6ek9j5668qb3.jpg)
The Minnesota Twins toppled the Kansas City Royals 8-3 on Monday night at Target Field. The win had a huge impact on both teams, as they are directly battling with each other in the American League playoff races.
First, with the win, the Twins moved to 1.5 games ahead of Kansas City. The Twins currently own the No. 2 wild card spot in the American League, while the Royals own the No. 3 spot.
Furthermore, the loss puts the Royals at just 2.0 games ahead of both the Boston Red Sox and the Seattle Mariners in that wild card race. Both teams are within shouting distance of Kansas City yet again.
The Twins utilized a six-run second inning to propel themselves to the big win. Royce Lewis helped provide a punctuation mark in the inning by hitting his 15th homer of the season. He went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. The home run also continued to move Lewis up an impressive list in baseball history.
Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:
Royce Lewis has 32 career HR
only players with MORE in their first 110 career games:
Mark McGwire: 40
Cody Bellinger: 36
Rudy York: 35
Pete Alonso: 34
Ryan Braun: 34
Aaron Judge: 34
Fernando Tatis Jr: 34
Gary Sánchez: 33
Royce Lewis has 32 career HR
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 13, 2024
only players with MORE in their first 110 career games:
Mark McGwire: 40
Cody Bellinger: 36
Rudy York: 35
Pete Alonso: 34
Ryan Braun: 34
Aaron Judge: 34
Fernando Tatis Jr: 34
Gary Sánchez: 33 https://t.co/m7HSRhirPn
Lewis is one of the best sluggers in the game, but unfortunately, he's had a hard time staying on the field. Those 110 career games have come over three seasons because of a rash of injuries that Lewis has suffered. If he's able to stay healthy, he has a chance to be a driving force for the Twins offense as we head toward the playoffs.
In addition to the 15 homers, he's hitting .279 this season.
The Twins and Royals will play each other again on Tuesday night.
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