Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson – 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (89 pitches, 57 strikes)
Home Runs: Royce Lewis 2 (12), James Outman (3)
Top 3 WPA: Lewis (.451), Brooks Lee (.076), Luke Keaschall (.061)
Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs):
When Royce Lewis is going well, his swagger and charisma seem like another dimension of his game—somehow, a new source of value, rather than just a personality trait. Yes, Lewis swatted two two-run home runs Monday night, and obviously, the runs on the board are the real game-changers. When you watch the way he reacted to the sensation of bat meeting ball on each of them (and the moment when the ball snuck over the glove of center fielder Bryce Teodosio, on the first one), though, it feels like there’s something more going on. His rituals make such a spectacle of it that you can’t help wondering why opponents don’t get angry at him more often. As a fan, though, it’s exhilarating, and his teammates take to his authentic and irrepressible energy enthusiastically.
For Twins fans looking ahead to 2026 (and wondering whether Lewis will be part of that team), the bat flip-dugout point-bullpen point-wrist tap-phantom injection-shimmy-shuffle-sky point-dugout roar is not the vital sequence of moves. Those come when he’s in the batter’s box. The fact that we’ve seen a lot of Lewis’s celebrations lately, though, is a reflection of the fact that we’re seeing more productive moves in the box, too.
Lewis has moved much deeper in the box, starting roughly in mid-August. To give a clear look at the difference, though, let’s compare June’s version of him to the one we’ve seen this month. Here’s Lewis’s stance and stride animation, from Baseball Savant, for June.
As you can see, he was catching the ball out in front of home plate, but not very far in front of himself. He was so spread-out (and got so incredibly spread-out by the time his double-move of a stride was finished) that he ended up rushing himself. Compare the above, though, to where he’s setting up and how he’s striding this month.
This is the version of Lewis that was hitting .250/.299/.457 since the All-Star break, even before his outburst Monday night. No, those aren’t star-caliber numbers, but they represent a huge step forward from where he was for the season before that. There’s also something happening—more adjustments being made, and faster—right here in the last fortnight; he was not this deep in the box even in August.
By giving himself more time and starting a bit more upright, Lewis is allowing himself to catch the ball out in front of his own body by more, even though he’s catching it deeper, relative to home plate.
This version of Lewis’s swing is more adaptable, as he showed Monday night. It’s less grooved, and he hasn’t yet figured out how to make good swing decisions with this combination of timing mechanisms and moves to the ball, but the swing is more functional than it was throughout the first half. That’s very good news.
It was a night full of that for the Twins. Simeon Woods Richardson pitched better than his stat line indicated; he got little help from contest-winner catcher Mickey Gasper or oversold glove man James Outman. The latter failed to catch a ball Byron Buxton absolutely would have gotten to, which went for a two-run double in the bottom of the second. He also played a double into a triple to lead off the fifth, and Woods Richardson admirably pitched around that problem.
Outman did partially redeem himself with a very long home run. Luke Keaschall and Austin Martin reached base a combined six times. The Angels compounded every good thing the Twins did by doing something bad to make things even better for the visitors, but still, it was a good game amid a dreary run to the finish line of this season. Lewis, in particular, left a bright mark. Later in the contest, he also made a charging play that took him across third base and up the line and required an on-the-run throw from an altered arm angle. He converted it flawlessly. This was as good a display of why the fan base fell in love with Lewis as we’ve seen since 2023.
What’s Next: Zebby Matthews (4-4, 4.73) takes the hill Tuesday night, as the Twins try to press their advantage and seal a series win. The Angels will turn to veteran righty Kyle Hendricks (6-9, 4.81), in another 8:38 PM CT start.
Postgame Interviews:
Coming soon
Bullpen Usage Chart:
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN
MON
TOT
Hatch
0
0
66
0
0
66
Topa
0
13
0
28
0
41
Funderburk
0
15
0
22
0
37
Sands
0
0
0
14
0
14
Adams
31
0
0
0
38
69
Ohl
29
0
0
0
0
29
Cabrera
20
0
0
8
23
51
Tonkin
11
0
12
0
20
43