Royce Lewis hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the eighth inning, helping the Minnesota Twins come back to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 on Sunday.
Bailey Ober started and pitched six strong innings, and Jhoan Duran got his 20th save for Minnesota, which is now tied with Kansas City and 3 1/2 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland.
Ernie Clement hit a home run for Toronto, which lost its fourth game in six tries.
Down 3-1 going into the eighth inning, Ryan Jeffers and Austin Martin hit singles off Blue Jays closer Chad Green (4-4). Lewis then completed an eight-pitch at-bat by hitting a 2-2 slider 361 feet, just over the wall and into the flower bed in left field. It was his first home run since Aug. 12.
“I faced him actually on a rehab stint,” Lewis said. “… Those at-bats are like big because I know, ‘Hey maybe I’ll face him one day.’ And today ended up being a big at-bat. It was good to have that memory of his pitches and what they kind of look like, the shapes, and do my best to put a good swing on it.”
Green, who was on the injured list from April 17 to May 27 with a major strain of a muscle near his shoulder, had been perfect in 16 save chances this season.
“They make a bunch of changes, so we talked about having him face the middle of the order. That’s the guy you want against those hitters,” manager John Schneider said.
With the game tied at 1, Toronto loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning off Griffin Jax (4-4). Jax then hit Leo Jiménez with his first pitch, scoring Nathan Lukes. A ground out by Joey Loperfido brought in another run, giving the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead.
Lewis started the game at third base but was moved to second base in the sixth inning. It was his first time playing that position in the majors.
