Twins activate Royce Lewis, Max Kepler from injured list

The Twins will activate long-awaited infielder Royce Lewis from the injured list in time for Monday's holiday game at Houston.

They also will activate outfielder Max Kepler from the 10-day injured list (left hamstring strain), manager Rocco Baldelli said.

To make room on the roster, they will send outfielders Matt Wallner — on a streak in which he has reached safely in eight consecutive plate appearances — and Kyle Garlick back to Class AAA St. Paul.

Lewis, who turns 24 on June 5, played 12 games for the Twins in 2022, but his career has been sidetracked by two anterior cruciate ligament surgeries on the same right knee.

"I think this is a culmination of a lot of hard work," Baldelli said. "I'm excited to see Royce back out on the field. He can jolt you with the enthusiasm and all of the exciting things that he can do. He's a good young player and he has had a long road to get back to this point. But he's put himself in a great position."

Lewis was placed on the 60-day injured list to start the season, and Sunday was his 60th day. Lewis batted .333 with four home runs and 10 RBI in eight games on a rehab assignment with the Saints. He had 11 hits and scored seven runs in 33 at-bats.

Lewis' natural position is shortstop, but star Carlos Correa plays there.

"I'm not labeling anyone anything right now," Baldelli said. "Royce is definitely going to play some third for us, though. He just needs to go play. ... He's done a good job following through on everything he has needed to do, so now he's ready."

Wallner reached base safely from his first plate appearance Saturday to his last on Sunday, a stretch with one home run, five singles and two walks. It ties a Twins rookie record, a list that includes Dan Ford in 1975, Denard Span in 2008 and Danny Valencia in 2010.

And yet he found himself sent back to the Saints after the game.

"He has had a really good run of ABs," Baldelli said. "He's swinging the bat great. He's playing very confidently. He's swinging at good pitches. He can do some damage. I couldn't have been happier with what I've seen from him."

Twins great Joe Mauer and his twin daughters and son visited the clubhouse and batting cages with their aluminum bats sticking out of their backpacks before Sunday's game. They met Correa and stopped to see Baldelli, whose wife, Allie, is expecting twins in late summer.

"What should we tell him?" Mauer asked his daughters. "Buckle up?"

Baldelli saw a glimpse of the future in the brief visit to his office. His daughter, Louisa Sunny, turns 2 in September.

"That sounds about right," he said of Mauer's advice. "I love seeing twins running around. I get some good nuggets of advice from everyone who has them or is even related to them in any way. I'll take anything that I can get."

• Emilio Pagán faced one batter in the seventh before leaving because of a left hip flexor strain. Baldelli said there were no plans to put him on the injured list. "Hopefully we caught it early enough, that I'm good to go in a day or two," Pagán said. "I think I'll be ready to go tomorrow if need be. If not tomorrow, the next day."

• Correa returned to the lineup after not playing Saturday, the third time in four games he sat out because of a hurting heel and some plantar fasciitis. Baldelli said Saturday he didn't want Correa playing an afternoon game that day after playing Friday night.

• Second baseman Jorge Polanco and Kepler — both on the injured list because of left hamstring strains — worked out successfully before Sunday's game. Polanco could be activated by the weekend.

• Jair Camargo hit a grand slam and Hernan Perez had a three-run shot in a nine-run seventh inning as the Saints came back to beat Omaha 10-6, their fourth victory in the six-game series at CHS Field. It was their second-highest-scoring inning in franchise history.