Royce Lewis back in lineup as Twins, Pablo López face Rays

ST. PETERSBURG — Royce Lewis returns to the Twins lineup today after suffering head contusions in a nasty spill during Sunday's loss to the Guardians at Target Field.

The rookie third baseman will hit seventh in the lineup against Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field.

Pablo López (3-3, 4.54 ERA) starts for the Twins while the Rays will use an opener, Cooper Criswell (1-1, 6.16).

The Twins (31-30) continue to lead the American League Central while the Rays (44-19) have baseball's best record.

The Rays won 7-0 on Tuesday in the three-game series opener as the Twins continued on pace to set a major league record for strikeouts in a season.

TWINS LINEUP

Jorge Polanco, 2B

Carlos Correa, SS

Trevor Larnach, LF

Donovan Solano, 1B

Max Kepler, RF

Royce Lewis, 3B

Ryan Jeffers, C

RAYS LINEUP

Josh Lowe, LF

Wander Franco, SS

Randy Arozarena, DH

Isaac Paredes, 3B

Taylor Walls, 2B

Jose Siri, CF

Manuel Margot, RF