Royce Lewis of the Minnesota Twins introduced himself in the most explosive way after the rookie hit his first-ever playoff home run on Tuesday, October 3, against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The 24-year-old started the scoring for the Twins after smashing a two-run shot to left field and a solo blast in the third off Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series at Target Field, MLB.com reported. Minnesota went on to win, 3-1.
The feat also placed Lewis in the Minnesota Twins record books. He becomes only the third player in the NL and AL history to hit home runs in his first two postseason plate appearances, per Minnesota Twins reporter Do-Hyoung Park.
Per the Elias Sports Bureau and #MNTwins PR, Royce Lewis is the third player in AL/NL history to hit homers in his first two postseason plate appearances.
The only other two:
2008 Evan Longoria
1987 Gary Gaetti— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) October 3, 2023
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The California native thus joins the likes of Evan Longoria (2008) and Gary Gaetti (1987) to have achieved the feat.
Further, Royce Lewis' feat went viral after uncorking a one-handed bat flip before heading to the Minnesota Twins dugout to celebrate with his teammates.
Royce Lewis's HR and bat flip from the dugout pic.twitter.com/u9B7RktNQQ
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) October 3, 2023
More records to be broken by Lewis
The performance of Royce Lewis had other team record implications. His performance made him only the second rookie to go deep in the playoffs since Scott Leius did the trick in Game 2 of the 1991 World Series.
It was a dramatic twist for Royce Lewis, who was initially questionable for the postseason. He missed the last two weeks due to a strained left hamstring, but his showing snuffed out all those concerns, USA Today reported.
The Twins and the Blue Jays face each other again in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series on Wednesday, October 4, starting at 4:38 p.m. E.T. per Sportsnet.
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