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Twins 7, Royals 3: It’s Mostly Sonny in Minneapolis

Call the title more of a hope than anything else.

By Benjamin Jones
/ new
Kansas City Royals v Minnesota Twins Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

The big news of the day came before the first pitch. A couple weeks after controversially being sent back to the minors, Royce Lewis was back with the big league club and starting in center field.

Lewis was looking great in center field, supplying the Twins with a highlight reel catch in the top of the third.

After finishing out the inning in center, Lewis was removed from the game with soreness in his surgically repaired right knee. Nick Gordon entered the game in his stead.

The Twins jumped out to an early lead thanks to a Gio Urshela three run blast with two outs in the third inning off of old man Zack Greinke. Speaking of Nick Gordon, he and Trevor Larnach followed up Urshela with back to back blasts in the 4th inning, eventually chasing Greinke after just four innings.

On the Twins side of the mound, Sonny Gray once again pitched like the ace the Twins need. Gray tossed 6 innings in just 80 pitches, allowing only 2 hits and 1 run, while striking out 4 batters. Unfortunately, the injury bug also bit the Twins starting pitcher, as he was lifted after the 6th with soreness in his right pec.

The rest of the game was (thankfully) rather uneventful. The Twins got insurance runs on RBI doubles from Larnach and Kyle Garlick in the 6th and 7th innings, respectively. The Royals added a few harmless runs in the 7th and 8th before Emilio Pagán closed things out in the 9th.

The end result of this game is good. A comfortable win against a division rival while salvaging a series split after a couple disappointing games to start the series. How we got there is slightly more concerning. Potentially losing your top prospect and best starter is never ideal, especially in the same game.

STUDS:

  • Trevor Larnach: 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI
  • Nick Gordon: 2-3, HR, 2B, RBI
  • Sonny Gray: 6 IP, 2 H, R, 4 SO

DUDS:

  • My mental health after watching Royce Lewis slam into the center field wall at full speed.
  • No other duds, TWINS WIN!!!

The Twins are back in action tomorrow with a Memorial Day matchup in Detroit. Here’s hoping Royce Lewis and Sonny Gray avoided major injuries and will be back soon. We’ll keep you updated on their status.

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