MLB
“It was a blessing to play right this moment. That environment was electrical,” mentioned Lewis, whose two-run shot off Kevin Gausman within the first inning and leadoff drive within the third despatched the sellout crowd right into a frenzy.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce Lewis felt a jolt of confidence from his inclusion on Minnesota’s roster for the AL Wild Card Sequence, ending the uncertainty round his hamstring pressure.
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Pablo López discovered inspiration in his closet, sporting a throwback jersey of his boyhood hero Johan Santana who simply occurred to be the final Twins pitcher to win a sport within the playoffs.
The Twins and their followers fed off the vitality, lastly stopping that document 18-game postseason skid.
Lewis smashed the streak into the seats, homering in every of his first two at-bats to hold the Twins to a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays within the opener of their AL Wild Card Sequence on Tuesday.
“It was a blessing to play right this moment. That environment was electrical,” mentioned Lewis, whose two-run shot off Kevin Gausman within the first inning and leadoff drive within the third despatched the sellout crowd right into a frenzy.
The larger celebration occurred a couple of hours later when Jhoan Duran pitched a hitless ninth to shut the primary victory for the Twins within the playoffs since Oct. 5, 2004, and vanquish the longest postseason skid in main North American skilled sports activities.
“This was my group rising up. It’s nonetheless my group,” mentioned Caleb Thielbar, a Minnesota native who pitched an ideal seventh. “I understand how folks really feel, and I do know what weight was lifted off everybody’s backs right this moment.”
It was the primary residence win for the Twins within the playoffs since Sport 1 of the ALCS in 2002 on the Metrodome. Lewis was a 3-year-old then. He’s the kind of big-time participant — with 5 grand slams in 70 profession video games — that might lead the Twins on an precise postseason run as a substitute of simply hanging a division title banner and leaving the celebration after three or 4 days.
“I believed the place was going to separate open and soften, truthfully,” Twins supervisor Rocco Baldelli mentioned. “It was out of this universe on the market on the sphere. The followers took over the sport. They helped us win right this moment.”
López additionally had a powerful playoff debut for Minnesota, allowing one run and 5 hits in 5 2/3 innings. After sporting his Santana jersey to the ballpark, he delivered a efficiency that was paying homage to his fellow Venezuelan.
“Typically issues line up too completely to cross up on these alternatives,” López mentioned.
Sport 2 is Wednesday afternoon. The whole sequence is at Goal Subject.
“You don’t wish to say like an over sense of urgency, however these guys understand it’s going to take all people to get to Sport 3,” Blue Jays supervisor John Schneider mentioned.
The Blue Jays lastly obtained on the board when Kevin Kiermaier’s two-out single drove in Bo Bichette within the sixth, however they left 9 runners on base.
The Blue Jays carried their very own October angst into this sequence, having not received a postseason sport because the 2016 ALCS. They took two-game sweeps as wild playing cards in 2020 and 2022, and Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — two franchise cornerstones and the celebrated sons of former main leaguers — haven’t but received a postseason sport.
Gausman’s day
Gausman completed 4 innings with three hits and three walks, his second-shortest begin of the season. The suitable-hander incessantly requested for a brand new ball early in his outing and even had hassle at one level with the wi-fi PitchCom gadget that’s used to stop signal stealing.
He completed higher than he began however was by no means in a position to escape the full-count fastball to Lewis within the first inning that he mentioned he misplaced by 3½ toes.
“Good hitters are going to make you pay for that,” Gausman mentioned. “Clearly he’s hitting within the ‘3’ gap for a purpose.”
Glove work
López and his 4 relievers obtained loads of defensive assist. Michael A. Taylor made a diving catch of a pointy line drive to middle by Alejandro Kirk within the second and a leaping seize on the wall to take an extra-base hit away from a fuming Matt Chapman within the sixth. Max Kepler crashed in opposition to the identical padding to catch Guerrero’s lengthy fly ball within the fourth.
Essentially the most important play of all was later in that inning, when Kiermaier’s two-out curler eluded third baseman Jorge Polanco as Bichette rounded for residence with two outs. Carlos Correa backed him up from shortstop and threw a strike to the plate to finish the inning.
“As soon as I noticed Bo take a look at the ball, I knew he had intentions,” Correa mentioned. “I might see in his eyes.”
Royce Rolls
Lewis turned the third participant in MLB historical past to hit residence runs in every of his first two profession postseason plate appearances, following Evan Longoria for the Rays in 2008 and Gary Gaetti for the Twins in 1987.
Up subsequent
Blue Jays: RHP José Berríos (11-12, 3.65 ERA) will begin Sport 2 in opposition to the group he pitched 5½ seasons for till a commerce to Toronto on July 30, 2021. He made postseason begins for the Twins in 2019 and 2020. “I like pitching on this ballpark as a result of the dugout is so shut, so I appear to be I throw 100,” Berríos mentioned.
Twins: RHP Sonny Grey (8-8, 2.79 ERA) will take the mound Wednesday for the primary postseason begin for the 11-year veteran since 2017 in Sport 4 of the ALDS for the Yankees.
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