Make It Official! Twins 4, Royals 1: Lewis Brings Pride and Pain on Opening Day

[Peter Labuza]

The Minnesota Twins began the season with a win and an ace start by Pablo Lopez, but the story of the game was the awe of a Royce Lewis dinger quickly followed by the tragedy of a potential IL stint.

Image courtesy of © Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Pablo López: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Home Runs: Royce Lewis (1)
Top 3 WPA: 
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs): Check back for this later; FanGraphs is experiencing some Opening Day hiccups.

With a lefty on the mound in Cole Ragans, Rocco Baldelli surprised some with his Opening Day lineup—Byron Buxton leading off, Ryan Jeffers batting second, and Manuel Margot as DH while placing Willi Castro in left field. 

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Twins Dailys winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know that's a promise we make good on.

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First Inning Dinger Trade

If anyone was worried Royce Lewis might have something of a sophomore slump, the Twins third baseman tried to dispel them quickly. He took a second-pitch fastball 423 feet to left field and gave the good guys an early lead. 

However, the Royals answered, giving López a bit of an early scare. Kansas City third baseman Maikel García had only four home runs over 500 plate appearances in the majors, but managed to put the bat on a hanging sweeper and land it on the wrong side of the wall in left, himself. López recovered in the inning, with strikeouts of Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Pérez.

Settling in for a Duel
If the first-inning bombs suggested the teams might be in for a derby contest, both pitchers shook off their shaky starts and found their dominant 2023 selves.

Ragans responded to the dinger by striking out the next four consecutive batters (with a little bit of help by umpire Laz Diaz). He managed a first-pitch strike on over three-quarters of Minnesota’s plate appearances against him, leaving Twins hitters continually fighting uphill. The Twins demonstrated some power—eight of the nine batters smacked a hard-hit ball against him—but the team failed to create any rallies beyond the third inning against the southpaw. The former Texas Rangers prospect pushed through six innings with nine strikeouts and three free passes.

López settled down into what seems to be a Cy Young-caliber rhythm, compiling a total of seven strikeouts with a few critical outs from Carlos Correa and Castro. López refused to walk a single batter, and remained efficient throughout his 84 pitches. Baldelli originally threatened to take López out after managing a flyout to begin the seventh—the bullpen door literally swung open—but the Venezuelan ace talked himself into two more batters with a groundout and a strikeout. 

Injury Woes
After lining a single in the third inning to follow up from his homer, Royce Lewis took an awkward turn around second on a Correa double that would have otherwise scored two. Lewis left the game, and the Twins later reported it as a “right quad injury,” though details over the extent of the injury aren't yet satisfying anyone. From some close analysis on the tape, no one can say for sure what happened. That injury put a damper on the Twins rally as the team managed only a single run. 

Lewis’s injury led to Julien entering the game, with Kyle Farmer flipping over from second to third. For fans demanding that Julien face left-handed pitching, the Canadian smashed hard hit single against Ragans in the fifth, though he would not reach home.

Bullpen Tests
With Ragans out, Alex Kirilloff, now sporting a comically large beard, subbed for Margot at DH to face righty Nick Anderson, though nothing came of the new match up  Though Correa and Santana managed a pair of singles with no outs in the eighth inning against Angel Zerpa, the Twins once again remained scoreless thanks to a Max Kepler pop up (after taking one to the knee) and a pair of strikeouts by Farmer and Castro. 

The ninth played out differently, with journeyman Chris Stratton on the mound. Once again, the Twins managed to put two on with a Kirilloff single and a walk by Buxton. Jeffers managed to push the runners on a dribbler. During a tough Julien at bat, Santana missed a high ball four, pushing Kirilloff in for an insurance run. Correa managed a dribbler that Vinnie Pasquantino failed to scoop out at first, allowing Buxton to pass by home and sending Royals fans toward the stands.

Given the taut shape of the game, this was a close test for how Baldelli and Pete Maki would manage their unexpected bullpen construction that looked quite different from their plans before Spring Training. Stewart opened up the eighth inning, with a pair of outs before allowing a single to Kyle Isbel, but Buxton tracked down a sharp line out from Garcia (something Twins fans hope to see again and again). Jax took on the ninth inning and had trouble locating the plate at first, allowing a walk to Bobby Witt Jr. before managing a strikeout on Perez and a harmless fly ball from MJ Melendez to open the season with a win. 

What’s Next?

Updates on Royce Lewis will probably define what comes next, and the Twins must decide whether to call up former major leaguers like Trevor Larnach or Jose Miranda, or give a first cup of coffee to someone like Austin Martin. More importantly, Joe Ryan will take the mound and face up against former Padre Seth Lugo on Saturday.

Postgame Interviews

7 IP | 4 H | 7 K | 0 BB | 1 ER

Hear from Pablo Lopez after his stellar start in the #OpeningDay win over the Royals. 🔊#WeBelieveinTC | #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/TjFBt4t0Ma

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) March 28, 2024

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	THU	SAT	SUN	TUE	WED	TOT
Alcala	0	0	0	0	0	0
Duarte	0	0	0	0	0	0
Funderburk	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jackson	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jax	18	0	0	0	0	18
Okert	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sands	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stewart	17	0	0	0	0	17

 

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[Matt Braun]

I'm quite impressed with Cole Ragans. I think KC found a good one there.

Liked to see Correa lining the ball all over the field, as well.

Hoping Royce is ok!

[FlyingFinn]

Julien has to play every day. His at bats drive pitchers crazy, increasing their pitch count. I think that alone helps the hitters behind him. 

A win, yes. But the Lewis injury isn't good.

[RpR]

[twinssporto]

Nice win! Lets get another 158...No team is perfect.

[jkcarew]

R - O - C - K in the ALC!

R - O - C - K in the ALC!

R - O - C - K in the ALC!…yeah, yeah…

 

 

(don’t leave me hanging)

[Doctor Gast]

Great pitching performance by Lopez & clutch hitting by Lewis & Correa. A good start. let's keep it going. A speedy recovery for Lewis. 

[Beast]

Lewis hitting a home run then getting hurt is a fitting microcosm and karmic retribution for ownership yanking the rug out from under fans after last year’s step forward.

They tempted the baseball gods, and they’ve answered resoundingly the past couple of weeks.

Aside from that, Lopez eased the concerns over his relatively rough spring, and Correa picked up where he left off with his strong playoff performance.  That’s promising.  Those two are going to have to carry us this year.

[2wins87]

I'm staying optimistic that it won't be a long absence for Lewis, but I do sense an IL trip.

I̶f̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶,̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶L̶e̶e̶ ̶t̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶r̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶3̶B̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶h̶o̶l̶d̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶w̶n̶?̶ ̶ ̶H̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶y̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶3̶B̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶i̶n̶o̶r̶s̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶o̶b̶s̶t̶a̶c̶l̶e̶ ̶m̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶c̶l̶e̶a̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶4̶0̶-̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶p̶o̶t̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶I̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶Z̶a̶c̶h̶ ̶W̶e̶i̶s̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶t̶h̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶g̶i̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶L̶e̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶j̶o̶r̶s̶.̶

Edit: Totally forgot about Lee's injury. So much for the silver lining of getting to see him debut. I guess the plan would be to have Farmer and Castro platoon 3B, which only opens up basically a bench role. I would guess Larnach I suppose. I'm going to choose to believe Lewis that it's just a cramp.

[wabene]

Finally finished a great opening game! Pablo is the man. Correa is a new man. Julien, who by the way is special, will now get more playing time. Edouard Julien plays within himself and will be available. We will be better for it. 

Eddie didn't look too bad in the field did he, eh? 

Jax and Stewie, nuff, said

[MMMordabito]

Pablo Lopez: Professional Opening Day Pitcher

[David HK]

Catching up on the mlbtv here on my Hong Kong Good Friday morning.  Omg, Royce....

Ain't it just the way of the Twinks?  Bux, Royce, two of the finest young talents in the game, and neither can stay on the field. 😢

I had to check the Baseball Reference page for Cole Ragans, whom I didn't know.  Heh... one of the "similar pitchers at age 25?"  Adelberto Mejia!  Now there's a blast from the past!

Cheers to the boys for opening with a chicken dinner!  Or, chicken breakfast in my case.

[AceWrigley]

In other news, Eddie Rosario started in CF today for the Washington Nationals, and hit a 2-run home run off Emilio Pagan. I really don't know what to think about that.

[USAFChief]

10 minutes ago, AceWrigley said:

In other news, Eddie Rosario started in CF today for the Washington Nationals, and hit a 2-run home run off Emilio Pagan. I really don't know what to think about that.

Personally, I think management sucks if Eddie Rosario is your opening day CFer

 

[eastsidekate]

Hopefully I'll be over missing Dick Bremer by the time Lewis is back. IDK, tho. 

[Vanimal46]

4 minutes ago, eastsidekate said:

Hopefully I'll be over missing Dick Bremer by the time Lewis is back. IDK, tho. 

Provus was a natural on TV. The radio team is a dud now. 

[wabene]

And Morneau keeps prattling on..................,... 

[Joe A. Preusser]

1 hour ago, AceWrigley said:

In other news, Eddie Rosario started in CF today for the Washington Nationals, and hit a 2-run home run off Emilio Pagan. I really don't know what to think about that.

I also REALLY don't know what to think about that.  

[Joe A. Preusser]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

Provus was a natural on TV. The radio team is a dud now. 

I thought radio was fine.  I'm not a Gladden disliker, I thought the team was good.  

[Fatbat]

3 hours ago, AceWrigley said:

In other news, Eddie Rosario started in CF today for the Washington Nationals, and hit a 2-run home run off Emilio Pagan. I really don't know what to think about that.

Lots of laughs about that. 

[Mark G]

4 hours ago, eastsidekate said:

Hopefully I'll be over missing Dick Bremer by the time Lewis is back. IDK, tho. 

I always felt sorry for John Gordon, having to follow Herb Carneal; no one was going to be that good, but John did alright.  I feel sorry for Cory Provus, now, as well; there just isn't another Dick Bremer.  It is hard for me to watch right now but, as you say, hopefully I will get over it.  In the meantime, Cory will do alright as well.  Just showing my age, I guess.  

[mikelink45]

Nice game.  I am concerned for Lewis who has superstar potential, but also Byron Buxton injury potential too.  

[Oldgoat_MN]

7 hours ago, eastsidekate said:

Hopefully I'll be over missing Dick Bremer by the time Lewis is back. IDK, tho. 

OMG - I certainly hope Royce isn't out THAT long!

[Doctor Wu]

6 hours ago, Fatbat said:

Lots of laughs about that. 

Plus Gallo struck out 3 times in that game!

[jmlease1]

Sucks that Royce got hurt. Ugh. Just hate everything about that, but if anyone can bounce back it's the ever-positive Royce Lewis.

Pablo looked good, no complaints about 1 run over 7. He could have a monster year.

I hope this isn't going to be another season where crap umpires expand the zone on Julien and call balls strikes on him as they continue to not give a young player credit for knowing the strike zone. Laz Diaz  made some strike calls in the later innings that were maddening. I don't want to talk or think about umps like this, but effing hell.

Correa looked great. Foot must be feeling good, hopefully he's got that behind him.

[LeatherAntenna]

9 hours ago, AceWrigley said:

In other news, Eddie Rosario started in CF today for the Washington Nationals, and hit a 2-run home run off Emilio Pagan. I really don't know what to think about that.

18.0 ERA .

[eastsidekate]

4 hours ago, Mark G said:

I always felt sorry for John Gordon, having to follow Herb Carneal; no one was going to be that good, but John did alright.  I feel sorry for Cory Provus, now, as well; there just isn't another Dick Bremer.

This. Provus is pretty good.

[wabene]

Pablo can give up an early run, then he just buckles down and gets dialed in. It is fun to watch the guy has so many ways to attack hitters. 

So much for slow starts for Correa, he looked fantastic. This is a fun Twins team to follow.

[Karbo]

Another injury, just what I was concerned about. If he goes on IL I hope they call up Martin for a look, though I doubt they will. Otherwise it looks like Castro/Farmer type platoon at 3rd.

[Jeff K]

13 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Julien has to play every day. His at bats drive pitchers crazy, increasing their pitch count. I think that alone helps the hitters behind him. 

A win, yes. But the Lewis injury isn't good.

I think we are going to see more julien with Royce out...bad reason.  Farmer will spend more time at 3rd.  I hope the Twins call up Martin.