Royce Lewis hits go-ahead, three-run homer to lead Twins past Blue Jays

Lewis came through with a crucial eighth-inning homer.

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober (17) throws to the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning at Target Field in Minneapolis on Sept. 1, 2024. / Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

When Royce Lewis previously faced Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green in a rehab stint, he felt like those at-bats were significant knowing he could end up facing Green in a big moment in the future.

That big moment came Sunday afternoon, and Lewis delivered with a go-ahead, three-run home run off Green in the eighth inning of a 4-3 Twins victory over the Blue Jays in front of an announced crowd of 32,774 at Target Field in Minneapolis. The Twins won the crucial series 2-1.

"It was good to have that memory of his pitches and what they kind of looked like, the shapes, and do my best to put a good swing on it," Lewis said.

After back-to-back singles from Ryan Jeffers and Austin Martin in the eighth inning, Lewis — who also made his first major league appearance at second base during the game — hit the 361-foot, go-ahead homer off Green after Toronto had taken a two-run lead in the top of the inning.

That came after an uncharacteristic performance from Twins reliever Griffin Jax. Jax walked two in the inning — he hadn't walked a batter since July 10 — and also hit Leo Jimenez with a pitch that scored the go-ahead run. The Blue Jays added another run when Joey Loperfido grounded out the next at-bat to score Ernie Clement. Jax hadn't given up a run since July 21.

Jhoan Duran hit Brian Serven with a pitch in the ninth inning but never found himself in too much trouble as he held the Blue Jays (67-72) quiet and picked up his 20th save of the season.

Some sloppy play from the Blue Jays helped the Twins (74-62) knot things up. Lewis led off the inning and was hit by a pitch. With one out, Brooks Lee, who was reinstated from his rehab assignment on Sunday and started at shortstop, grounded into a fielder’s choice to Luis De Los Santos at third, but Los Santos’ throw to second base was off the mark, allowing Lewis to advance to third base.

Lewis scored when Carlos Santana grounded out to third the next at-bat. 

The Twins offense was silent before that, offering no support to a strong start from Bailey Ober, who bounced back beautifully from his rough last outing. It was right back to quality for Ober, who gave up just one hit — a 415-foot solo homer to Clement in the first — while fanning eight in six innings.

Ober closed his day with a signature moment in the sixth inning. After Nathan Lukes drew a leadoff walk and Clement reached on an error on Lee, Ober struck out the side and was fired up.

"We've been scuffing a little bit, so feel like just everything bottled up after my last outing," Ober said. "Being able to get out of the sixth after the first two guys get on, and try to fire up the team and the emotion just getting out there. It was a big moment in the game."