MINNEAPOLIS — Royce Lewis hit two home runs, including a two-run shot in the first inning, to lift help the Minnesota Twins snap their postseason drought with a 3-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday afternoon at Target Field.
The Twins entered Tuesday's AL Wild Card contest on an 18-game losing streak in the playoffs, the longest of any team in any major sport, but an early outburst in the opening inning, accompanied by a solid outing for starting pitcher Pablo López, allowed Minnesota to take an early 1-0 lead in the series.
Lewis, who served as Minnesota's designated hitter, connected on a full-count pitch in the first inning to score Edouard Julien, who reached base on a walk.
“It was a blessing to play today. That atmosphere was electric,” said Lewis.
In his next at-bat, Lewis drove Toronto starting pitcher Kevin Gausman's 3-1 pitch to right-center to put the Twins up 3-0. According to the Twins, Lewis joins Gary Gaetti as the only players in team history to homer in their first two postseason at-bats.
The bigger celebration occurred a few hours later when Jhoan Duran pitched a hitless ninth to close the first victory in the playoffs for the Twins since Oct. 5, 2004. They had the longest postseason losing streak in major North American professional sports. It was the first home win for the Twins in the playoffs since Game 1 of the ALCS in 2002 at the Metrodome.
“I thought the place was going to split open and melt, honestly,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It was out of this universe out there on the field. The fans took over the game. They helped us win today.”
Lewis was a 3-year-old then. He's the type of big-time player — with five grand slams in 70 career games — that could lead the Twins on an actual postseason run instead of just hanging a division title banner and leaving the party after three or four days.
Pablo López also delivered a strong playoff debut for Minnesota, permitting one run and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. After wearing his Santana jersey to the ballpark, he delivered a performance that was reminiscent of his fellow Venezuelan.
“Sometimes things line up too perfectly to pass up on those opportunities,” López said.
Gausman's day for the Blue Jays was more bumpy, finishing four innings with three hits and three walks. The right-hander frequently asked for a new ball early in his outing and had trouble at one point with the wireless PitchCom device that is used to prevent sign stealing. Gausman had only one start shorter than this in 2023, when he logged 3 1/3 innings on May 4.
Game 2 is Wednesday afternoon. Game 3 would be Thursday, with the entire series in Minnesota under MLB's postseason format.
The Blue Jays finally got on the board when Kevin Kiermaier’s two-out single drove in Bo Bichette in the sixth, but they left nine runners on base.
The Blue Jays carried their own October angst into this series, having not won a postseason game since the 2016 ALCS. They took two-game sweeps as wild cards in 2020 and 2022, and Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — two franchise cornerstones and the celebrated sons of former major leaguers — have not yet won a postseason game.
GLOVE WORK
López and his four relievers got plenty of defensive help. Michael A. Taylor made a diving catch of a sharp line drive to center by Alejandro Kirk in the second and a leaping grab at the wall to take an extra-base hit away from a fuming Matt Chapman in the sixth. Max Kepler crashed against the same padding to catch Guerrero's long fly ball in the fourth.
The most vital play of all was later in that inning, when Kiermaier's two-out roller eluded third baseman Jorge Polanco as Bichette rounded for home with two outs. Carlos Correa backed him up from shortstop and threw a strike to the plate to get Bichette and end the inning.
ROYCE ROLLS
Lewis returned from a left hamstring strain that kept him out for the last two weeks. He became the third player in MLB history to hit home runs in each of his first two career postseason plate appearances, following Evan Longoria for the Rays in 2008 and Gary Gaetti for the Twins in 1987.
SWING AND MISS
The Gausman-López matchup marked the first time that the top two strikeout pitchers during the regular season in one league faced each other in the playoffs since Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia in Game 1 of the Tigers-Yankees ALDS in 2011.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: RHP José Berríos (11-12, 3.65 ERA) will start Game 2 against the team he pitched 5½ seasons for until a trade to Toronto on July 30, 2021. He made postseason starts for the Twins in 2019 and 2020. “I love pitching in this ballpark because the dugout is so close, so I look like I throw 100,” Berríos said.
Twins: RHP Sonny Gray (8-8, 2.79 ERA) will take the mound Wednesday for the first postseason start for the 11-year veteran since 2017 in Game 4 of the ALDS for the Yankees.
The Twins will have a chance to close out the series Wednesday afternoon at Target Field.
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