Royce Lewis drove in the go-ahead run on an RBI single and the Minnesota Twins scored three runs in the top of the 10th inning to earn a 6-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday afternoon.
Lewis’s latest clutch hit came in a 3-3 game with Carlos Correa on second base to lead off the top of the 10th inning. On a 1-2 count, Lewis snuck a seeing-eye single into the outfield before Correa made his way home.
Although it appeared the throw beat Correa to home plate, Tigers catcher Jake Rogers couldn’t hold onto the ball after attempting to tag Correa, allowing the Twins to take a 4-3 lead.
Royce rollin’ #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/MGfNouKpgm
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) June 25, 2023
Willi Castro and Christian Vázquez added RBI singles later in the inning to provide some insurance and Jhoan Duran closed the game for his 11th save of the season and a series victory in Detroit.
The Twins got off to a good start in Sunday’s win as Donovan Solano crushed a two-run homer in the top of the third inning. The Twins’ lead didn’t last for long as Zach McKinstry smacked a two-run double off Bailey Ober to tie the game in the bottom of the third inning.
Kerry Carpenter gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead on a single later in the third inning but Ober settled down from there as he held Detroit to three runs on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts over six innings.
Detroit’s bullpen made sure the lead held up until the eighth inning when Lewis drew a two-out walk and advanced on a pinch-hit single by Ryan Jeffers. Willi Castro hit a ground ball to Nick Maton in the following at-bat but Maton’s throw sailed toward the first-base dugout and allowed Lewis to score the tying run on an error.
We will take that. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/jXlM8G4Tdz
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) June 25, 2023
Lewis finished the game going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and the game-winning RBI while Edouard Julien (2-for-4, 2B, BB), Solano (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI), Castro (2-for-4, RBI, BB) and Vázquez (2-for-5, RBI) all had multi-hit games.
Byron Buxton also made a pinch-hitting appearance for Joey Gallo after leaving Saturday night’s game with a back injury, grounding out to end the eighth inning.
The Twins are now 40-39 with the win and will head to Atlanta to open a three-game series with the Braves. Sonny Gray (4-1, 2.56 ERA) is scheduled to start the series opener against Spencer Strider (8-2, 3.93 ERA) on Monday night.
