CLEVELAND — Eight video games. Three grand slams. One division title maybe inching ever nearer.
This is Royce Lewis’ first playoff chase, with the previous No. 1 total choose lastly having overcome two years’ price of ACL accidents to unleash his expertise on the league. It’s become one of many grandest first impressions the sport has ever seen.
That’s as a result of Lewis prolonged his surreal run of bases-loaded success along with his third grand slam in somewhat greater than per week to punctuate the Twins’ five-run second inning in opposition to the Guardians at Progressive Field on Monday. And then, the Twins saved including, and including, and including, all the best way to a 20-6 rout within the opener of what was anticipated to be a defining sequence for the American League Central.
Instead, the Twins eliminated any doubt early as they prolonged their divisional result in six video games with 24 to go and solely two head-to-head matchups remaining. The Guardians have the benefit for the tiebreaker by main the season sequence, 6-5.
• Games remaining: at CLE (2), vs. NYM (3), vs. TB (3), at CWS (4), vs. CIN (3), vs. LAA (3), vs. OAK (3), at COL (3)
• Standings replace: The Twins maintain a 6-game lead on the Guardians for the AL Central title. The Twins at the moment are the third-best division winner, that means they’d host a three-game WC sequence vs. the ultimate WC entrant (at the moment TEX) beginning on Oct. 3.
• Magic quantity: 19 (to clinch AL Central)
“Really, nothing [Lewis] can do at this point is surprising,” supervisor Rocco Baldelli stated. “I mean, who hits four grand slams in less than a third of a season? … He’s proving to be a special young player, but he wants to continue to prove himself.”
Cleveland starter Lucas Giolito walked three batters within the second inning — together with one with the bases loaded — to prime Lewis for an additional shot at glory. The right-hander fell behind once more, 2-0, and served up a belt-high fastball on the internal half, and Lewis’ uppercut swing crushed the no-doubter a Statcast-projected 401 ft over the excessive wall in left discipline.
“This team’s amazing, that’s all,” Lewis stated. “They put me in good situations. Rocco makes great lineups. Like I’ve said many times before, I’ve moved up and down — and the situation seems to find me.”
Thus, the legend of Lewis in Minnesota continues to develop, because the slam served as the point of interest of a 3-for-4 efficiency that featured a career-high six RBIs, together with a two-run single within the sixth when he someway got here to the plate once more with the bases loaded.
And no, there was no disappointment in lacking one other grand slam.
“That’s what I’m trying to do every time, is hit a line drive, because if you get under it and quote-unquote, miss, it ends up being a homer,” Lewis stated with a smile.
Following Lewis’ earlier grand slam off Texas reliever Chris Stratton on Aug. 27 and one other off Guardians starter Xzavion Curry a day later, Lewis is the primary rookie in AL/NL historical past with three grand slams in a span of eight video games or fewer, per the Elias Sports Bureau, and the fourth participant total, becoming a member of Larry Parrish (1982), Jim Northrup (‘68) and Lou Gehrig (‘31).
Lewis’ three grand slams this season additionally matched a Twins single-season file and tied him for second-most grand slams in a season by a rookie, trailing solely Alexei Ramirez’s 4 slams in 2008.
The 24-year-old now has 4 grand slams amongst his first 13 profession homers, that means he wanted the second-fewest homers in AL/NL historical past to succeed in 4 slams, behind solely Chris Taylor, who hit 4 grand slams amongst his first 11 profession lengthy balls.
“I think he loves coming up with people on base,” Baldelli stated. “I think you get the best out of him. … That’s a great trait to have, and we’ve seen this movie before with him, with this show before. He just keeps coming through.”
Lewis figures to be a fixture of the Minnesota-Cleveland rivalry for years to return — and forgive the Guardians in the event that they’re already sick of Lewis, contemplating three of those grand slams have come off Cleveland pitching. The first of Lewis’ grand slams, which was additionally his first profession homer, got here off then-Guardians reliever Bryan Shaw on May 13, 2022.
The charismatic rookie was already necessary to the clubhouse along with his boundless vitality and optimism — to the purpose that the membership saved his “waggling” celebration on the bases even when Lewis was lacking with an indirect damage for a month and a half.
“If I had his energy, I’d be president by now,” Kyle Farmer stated. “He’s got the most energy on the team and he’s a lot of fun to be around. He brings something to a locker room that you need, and that we needed. He’s our guy that has it.”
Hitting grand slams each few days will do wonders for a staff’s vitality, too.
Content Source: www.mlb.com