CHICAGO — In dire need of some good vibes, it seems maybe Royce Lewis just needed to return to the Windy City.
Returning to a park and facing an opponent that seems to bring out the best in him, Lewis turned in one of the best all-around games of his career on Friday. Lewis, who admitted prior the game that he has not felt right at the plate at any point this season, hit his first grand slam since his historic run in September of 2023 to propel the Twins to a 9-7 win against the White Sox at Rate Field.
He also made an outstanding defensive play in the eighth inning to help preserve that slim margin, and added two more singles and a stolen base.
“It’s awesome, especially when it all comes together,” Lewis said. “You feel like you’re ready to go each night but sometimes you don’t get those opportunities, whether it’s at the plate, if they make mistakes over the middle, or defensively getting opportunities. Tonight, to be able to have all three, is really cool.”
For his career, Lewis has hit .448 in 38 plate appearances against the Sox, with five homers and 18 RBIs in just eight games.
“I like it here,” he quipped.
Lewis jumped on a first-pitch cutter from Aaron Civale with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth inning to give Minnesota an early lead. Then, with the White Sox rallying and the bases loaded in the eighth, he chased a Colson Montgomery popup far into foul territory, turned quickly and fired home to throw out Miguel Vargas, who was charging for what would have been the tying run.
The grand slam was the sixth of Lewis’ career, after he blasted four as a rookie phenom in 2023 — the last of them coming at this very ballpark. He’s spent the past two seasons searching for the form that marked his early days in the big leagues.
“I haven’t felt comfortable all year,” Lewis said pregame. “I wish I did. If I did, I think my numbers would be totally different. I’m just looking for comfort in the box. I’m just happy that I’m healthy and playing a lot of games because that’s most important: Getting my body underneath that stress so going forward I can manage well.”
There’s no denying Lewis’ talent, but he’s found himself in funks at times and sometimes has trouble digging out of them. He said Friday that his recent slump — when he posted a .443 OPS from July 27 to Aug. 16 — was exacerbated by the Twins’ recent trades of multiple veterans. But he also said that even when his results have been better at times this year, he’s never felt quite right.
“It’s also hard to make a full in-season adjustment,” he said, “because you can try that and those 30 at-bats of trial goes toward your stats. Do you really want to sacrifice that? And if doesn’t work, then you go back to what you were doing before. It’s always hard.”
On Friday, though, he looked like the best version of himself. Though he struck out in his first at-bat, he came out swinging in his second, with the grand slam being his seventh homer of the year and second in five games. He added a single and a stolen base in the sixth, scoring a run as the Twins pulled back ahead after Chicago had tied the game, and another single in the eighth inning for his third three-hit game of the season.
“It’s just a big night,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “You’re looking for guys to just simply do things, step up, show something that’s going to change a game and help you win a game. Today was certainly one of those days for him and it was very impressive to watch.”
