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Royce Lewis hits two runs in homecoming as Twins rout Angels 12-3

Phil Miller, The Minnesota Star Tribune on

Published in Baseball

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Royce Lewis doesn’t actually remember watching Barry Bonds hit a long home run off Troy Percival during the 2002 World Series, though his father, William, has a photo of the 3-year-old toddler sitting on his lap at Angel Stadium during that game.

But neither William nor the now-26-year-old Royce Lewis will ever forget the home runs they witnessed in this same ballpark Monday night.

Lewis, playing his first game as a Twin in the stadium just 25 miles from where he grew up, cracked a second-inning slider into the Disney rock formation in straightaway center field, thrilling the dozens of friends and family members, including his father, sitting nearby.

As an encore, Lewis, wearing cleats with the Vikings’ helmet logo painted on them, blasted a fifth-inning fastball over the left-field fence, too, leading the Twins to their second victory in a row, 12-3 over the mistake-prone Los Angeles Angels. Lewis even made a sizzling defensive play, making a throw on the run to retire Taylor Ward on a groundout.

Count on seeing those purple-and-gold shoes again.

Wait, back-to-back wins? If the concept seems foreign, it’s no wonder. The Twins went exactly one month, since Aug. 8, before they finally followed a victory with a second one.

But they appeared intent upon changing that this time, scoring in five different innings and piling up their largest total of runs since July 12, winning their sixth consecutive game against the Angels and fourth in a row in Angel Stadium. In addition to Lewis’ two-homer night, James Outman hit his first home run as a Twin, Luke Keaschall drove in two runs, and the Twins drew six walks.

Oh, and four Angels errors and a couple of other embarrassing misplays didn’t hurt either. Third baseman Yoán Moncada let a couple of ground balls ricochet off his glove to extend Twins rallies, first baseman Oswald Peraza made the same mistake once, shortstop Zach Neto sailed a throw to first, and right fielder Matthew Lugo badly misjudged an easy Matt Wallner fly ball, letting it fall for a two-run double.

 

It was Lewis’ night, though, appropriate considering he had been on the injured list during each previous visit by the Twins here since he joined the team in 2022.

“Breathing that California air, there’s nothing like it,” Lewis said before the game.

Apparently so. Lewis has career batting averages of .600 at Dodger Stadium, .300 in Oakland Coliseum and .250 in Sacramento. But he could hardly contain his excitement over finally playing in the ballpark where he once competed for JSerra Catholic High School, shortly before being drafted by the Twins with the first overall pick in 2017.

“I remember I hit a ball, and I was 160 pounds. I hit it to right-center and was like, ‘Gosh. That might’ve been a homer, especially if it was at our home field,’ “ in San Juan Capistrano. “But obviously, playing in a big-league ballpark, it was a lot different. It’d be cool if I got that same swing tonight, and maybe it went out and see what happens when you mature.”

What happens is, the second two-homer game of his career in the regular season (third counting the playoffs) and four RBI.

All this offense made life easy for Simeon Woods Richardson, who started a Twins victory for the first time since July 28. Woods Richardson went five innings and allowed three runs, all of them coming in the second inning. Sebasti a n Rivero doubled home a pair, and Mike Trout’s two-out single completed the rally. But Woods Richardson, now 6-4, and three Twins relievers didn’t allow another run, holding the Angels to 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

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©2025 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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