2 slams in 2 games? Lewis 1st Twin to do it in key win vs. Guardians

MINNEAPOLIS -- It doesn’t matter where the Twins put Royce Lewis in the lineup -- it’s seemingly inevitable that the big spots find him, to the point that the Minnesota coaches joke about exactly that in the dugout.

It’s no joking matter for the opposing team, though -- because boy, does Lewis have a knack for rising to the occasion. And only 50 games into Lewis’ MLB career, the Guardians already know that all too well.

That big moment found Lewis in the second inning of Monday’s series opener between Minnesota and Cleveland at Target Field. With the bases loaded and the Twins trailing by two, Lewis crushed a drive to the bullpens in left-center field for his second grand slam in as many days, and the rookie’s huge swing capped a six-run rally that pushed Minnesota ahead in an eventual 10-6 victory.

“I think of eight RBIs and two wins, that’s what I think of,” Lewis said. “It’s truly special, man. Our team, the way we’re rolling and all the quality at-bats we’re putting together at the same time in the same innings, these are the kind of explosive innings we can put together deep into the playoffs any given night.”

The win extended the Twins’ lead in the American League Central to seven games over the Guardians following the first matchup in a pivotal stretch of six head-to-head contests between the division rivals in a 10-day span. The season series is now tied, 4-4, and the Twins hold the tiebreaker with the better record within the division.

Lewis became the first player in Twins history to hit grand slams in consecutive games -- a feat that actually occurred elsewhere in the Majors earlier this month by Luis Urías of the Red Sox.

A former No. 1 overall pick, Lewis has hit three grand slams among his first 10 career home runs, becoming the 10th player in AL/NL history to do so, and the first since Chris Taylor did so for the Dodgers in 2016-17.

“The kid's special,” Carlos Correa said. “We've known that for a while now. Now, he's healthy and doing his thing. Couldn't be happier for him. He's a guy that deserves it. He's a guy that everybody loves here. He's easy to like. He's easy to love. Success comes to people that work hard and are good people. He's all of that.”

The fans made sure Lewis got his recognition, demanding a curtain call with a roar that grew to the point that Max Kepler had to take a timeout before the start of his next plate appearance so Lewis could emerge from the dugout -- celebratory fishing vest halfway off his shoulders -- to acknowledge the raucous crowd.

“It’s so much fun,” Lewis said. “This team is so special. Like I’ve always said, just to crack the team and be a part of it, for me, I’m going out there and proving myself each and every day, because this game is hard, so you’re going to go through those times where it’s tough, but you’ve got to enjoy the fun while you have it.”

On Sunday, the Twins trailed early, 5-0, in their series finale against the Rangers before Lewis mashed a grand slam to the batter’s eye in center field in the sixth inning, putting the Twins in position to stretch the game into extra innings and scrape out a 7-6 victory in 13 innings.

And the other grand slam before that? Cleveland is all too familiar with that one, too. That was actually Lewis’ first career homer, back on May 13, 2022, when he capped a nine-run fifth inning with a slam to left field off reliever Bryan Shaw.

Although not all of Lewis’ clutch hits are quite so explosive, he does really have a knack for the moment. Monday’s grand slam improved his slash line to .383/.442/.723 for a 1.165 OPS in his career with runners in scoring position, the highest in Twins history among players to take at least 50 plate appearances in such situations.

It’s not that manager Rocco Baldelli is poring over his lineup specifically with the intent of having Lewis come up in these spots -- but no matter, because they just keep coming.

“It’s not normally the way I think about it, but maybe I should start thinking about it like that,” Baldelli said. “He likes the big spots. It’s a combination of being under control but still aggressive and all of these different things. It’s not easy to do what he’s doing.”