Royce Lewis hits two home runs in homecoming as Twins rout Angels 12-3

ANAHEIM, CALIF. – Royce Lewis doesn’t actually remember watching Barry Bonds hit a long home run off Troy Percival during the 2002 World Series, though his father, William, has a photo of the 3-year-old toddler sitting on his lap at Angel Stadium during that game.

But neither William nor the now-26-year-old Royce Lewis will ever forget the home runs they witnessed in this same ballpark Monday night.

“I made my dream come true,” Lewis said.

Sure did. Lewis, playing his first game as a Twin in the stadium just 25 miles from where he grew up, cracked a second-inning slider from Caden Dana into the Disney rock formation in straightaway center field, thrilling the dozens of friends and family members, including his father, sitting nearby.

BOXSCORE: Twins 12, Angels 3

MLB standings

As an encore, Lewis, wearing cleats with the Vikings’ helmet logo painted on them, blasted a fifth-inning fastball over the left-field fence, too, leading the Twins to their second victory in a row, 12-3 over the mistake-prone Los Angeles Angels. Lewis even made a sizzling defensive play, making a throw on the run to retire Taylor Ward on a groundout.

Yeah, count on seeing those purple-and-gold shoes again.

Wait, back-to-back wins? If the concept seems foreign, it’s no wonder. The Twins had gone exactly one month, since Aug. 8, without putting together a two-game winning streak.

But they appeared intent upon changing that this time, scoring in five different innings and piling up their largest total of runs since July 12, winning their sixth consecutive game against the Angels and fourth in a row at Angel Stadium.

Big night for California natives, it seems: In addition to Lewis’ two-homer night, James Outman hit his first home run as a Twin, Luke Keaschall drove in two runs, and Trevor Larnach added an RBI.

“When James barrels that ball up, it comes off real good. It comes off hot. It’s loud,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Real nice swing for him. He’s been working hard and trying to refine his approach.”

It was Lewis’ night, though, appropriate considering he had been on the injured list during each previous visit by the Twins here since he joined the team in 2022.

“Breathing that California air, there’s nothing like it,” Lewis said before the game.

Apparently so. Lewis has career batting averages of .600 at Dodger Stadium, .300 in Oakland Coliseum and .250 in Sacramento. But he could hardly contain his excitement over finally playing in the ballpark where he once competed for JSerra Catholic High School, shortly before being drafted by the Twins with the first overall pick in 2017.

“I remember I hit a ball, and I was 160 pounds. I hit it to right-center and was like, ‘Gosh. That might’ve been a homer, especially if it was at our home field,’ ” in San Juan Capistrano. “But obviously, playing in a big-league ballpark, it was a lot different. It’d be cool if I got that same swing tonight, and maybe it went out and see what happens when you mature.”

What happens is the second two-homer game of his career in the regular season (three counting the playoffs) and four RBI before a crowd of friends that Lewis estimated was more than 30 people.

Lewis agreed.

“It was even better than I could have expected,” said Lewis, who has 12 home runs this season. “It was really special to be here and do something like that with all my family in attendance. It was so cool.”

All this offense made life easy for Simeon Woods Richardson, who started a Twins victory for the first time since July 28.

Woods Richardson went five innings and gave up three runs, all of them coming in the second inning. Sebastian Rivero doubled home a pair, and Mike Trout’s two-out single completed the rally. But Woods Richardson, now 6-4, and three Twins relievers didn’t allow another run, holding the Angels to 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.