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Minnesota Twins infielder Royce Lewis has had one of the more up-and-down seasons in baseball, but after a weekend series win over the New York Yankees, the 27-year-old was all smiles.
Lewis went 2-for-4 with a two-run single, a double and a walk in Sunday's 6-1 win, which clinched a series victory for the 44-47 Twins in the Bronx for the first time since 2014.
Speaking in an on-field interview with NBC Sports after Sunday's finale, Lewis pointed straight to the guys around him rather than taking any credit for himself.
"We're feeding off each other," Lewis said. "Kody Clemens decided to be Barry Bonds this weekend, so we were feeding off that guy. … Josh Bell going off. Everyone was doing their thing this weekend. It was fun."
He was not wrong.
Clemens, who has been one of the biggest reasons the Twins have surprised people this year, homered in both Friday and Saturday's games and finished the weekend with five RBI while sitting at .245 with 16 home runs on the season.
Bell was even better on the Fourth of July, hitting two home runs and driving in three runs during the Twins' 11-4 blowout before adding an RBI single on Sunday.
Minnesota outscored the 49-40 Yankees 17-5 over the final two games after dropping the opener 5-2, and the pitching matched the energy, with Joe Ryan spinning seven scoreless innings and striking out nine on Sunday.
What makes all of this even more meaningful is where Lewis was just two months ago.
After struggling through his first 31 games with a .163 average, a .279 slugging percentage and a 31 percent strikeout rate, the Twins sent the former No. 1 overall pick down to Triple-A St. Paul in mid-May so he could reset his swing in a low-pressure setting.
Lewis responded by slashing .340/.417/.868 with eight home runs in 13 games before earning a recall on June 6, and since coming back he has looked like a different hitter, pushing his overall line to .217 with a .675 OPS through Sunday.
Those numbers still need work for a player who hit .303 across his first 94 career games, but for a club that was picked dead last in preseason optimism rankings, the direction matters more than the snapshot.
With Clemens putting together a career year, Bell settling into steady production at .247 with 13 home runs and Lewis finally looking comfortable again, Minnesota has the kind of lineup depth it has been searching for all season.
Whether the Twins can turn that into a second-half push remains to be seen, but if this weekend in the Bronx was any sign, the pieces are coming together.
Continue reading...
Lewis went 2-for-4 with a two-run single, a double and a walk in Sunday's 6-1 win, which clinched a series victory for the 44-47 Twins in the Bronx for the first time since 2014.
Lewis Was Quick To Deflect
Speaking in an on-field interview with NBC Sports after Sunday's finale, Lewis pointed straight to the guys around him rather than taking any credit for himself.
"We're feeding off each other," Lewis said. "Kody Clemens decided to be Barry Bonds this weekend, so we were feeding off that guy. … Josh Bell going off. Everyone was doing their thing this weekend. It was fun."
He was not wrong.
Clemens, who has been one of the biggest reasons the Twins have surprised people this year, homered in both Friday and Saturday's games and finished the weekend with five RBI while sitting at .245 with 16 home runs on the season.
Bell was even better on the Fourth of July, hitting two home runs and driving in three runs during the Twins' 11-4 blowout before adding an RBI single on Sunday.
Minnesota outscored the 49-40 Yankees 17-5 over the final two games after dropping the opener 5-2, and the pitching matched the energy, with Joe Ryan spinning seven scoreless innings and striking out nine on Sunday.
The Road Back
What makes all of this even more meaningful is where Lewis was just two months ago.
After struggling through his first 31 games with a .163 average, a .279 slugging percentage and a 31 percent strikeout rate, the Twins sent the former No. 1 overall pick down to Triple-A St. Paul in mid-May so he could reset his swing in a low-pressure setting.
Lewis responded by slashing .340/.417/.868 with eight home runs in 13 games before earning a recall on June 6, and since coming back he has looked like a different hitter, pushing his overall line to .217 with a .675 OPS through Sunday.
Those numbers still need work for a player who hit .303 across his first 94 career games, but for a club that was picked dead last in preseason optimism rankings, the direction matters more than the snapshot.
With Clemens putting together a career year, Bell settling into steady production at .247 with 13 home runs and Lewis finally looking comfortable again, Minnesota has the kind of lineup depth it has been searching for all season.
Whether the Twins can turn that into a second-half push remains to be seen, but if this weekend in the Bronx was any sign, the pieces are coming together.
Continue reading...
