Royce Lewis, Carlos Correa lead Twins to comeback victory over Mets to open series

When Royce Lewis was in the batting cages before Friday's game against the Mets, he chatted with Christian Vázquez and Nick Gordon about how teams celebrated after hits.

Vázquez told Lewis his shimmy was too much like another team, so he wanted to see him Griddy instead. Lewis, a few hours later, showed the Target Field crowd of 26,154 his moves after a pair of RBI doubles. Lewis' big hits combined with Andrew Stevenson's stumble-and-bumble dash to the plate on a wild play helped the Twins roll to a 5-2 victory over the Mets.

"I watch a lot of Justin Jefferson," Lewis said. "That's all I can tell you."

With the score tied in the seventh inning, the Twins put two runners on base with none out in their first crack at the Mets bullpen. Matt Wallner drew a leadoff walk and Willi Castro reached on an infield single.

"Wallner drawing that leadoff walk, I mean, that's how you win games," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "It's not always the pretty way. It's not always homers."

As Stevenson, a pinch runner for Wallner, led a double steal, New York reliever Sean Reid-Foley bounced a two-strike changeup that deflected past catcher Francisco Álvarez to the Target Field backstop.

Stevenson rounded third base and realized Álvarez had trouble locating the ball. After taking three steps toward the plate, Stevenson was caught in no man's land as Álvarez grabbed the ball and prepared to throw. Álvarez's throw went wide of the bag as Stevenson tried to return to the bag, so Stevenson quickly picked himself up and raced to the plate.

The throw from left fielder Tim Locastro was well wide of the plate, and Stevenson scored the go-ahead run on a play that saw a few wild throws.

"That was one of the crazier ones of the year," said Stevenson, who stole 44 bases at Class AAA. "Luckily it ended in a run."

After Stevenson's mad scramble, the Twins rallied. Lewis bashed a two-out RBI double off the center field wall, busting out the Griddy as he looked at his teammates in the dugout. Max Kepler followed with a bloop RBI single that dropped between three fielders in shallow center.

Since returning from the injured list on Aug. 15, Lewis has 26 RBI in 21 games, tied for the second-most RBI in the majors in that span.

"He's carrying this offense," Twins shortstop Carlos Correa said. "It's plain and simple. Ever since he came back, he's been unbelievable."

Correa didn't Griddy, but he struck his own pose when he hammered a 439-foot solo homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning, four pitches after the Mets took their first lead of the night. The ball rocketed off Correa's bat at 114.2 mph, the shortstop's hardest-hit homer of his career. Correa held the follow through from his swing for an extra second as the ball sailed into the second deck.

"That's just the Carlos I know, so it was kind of boring, to be honest with you," pitcher Dallas Keuchel said. "I was expecting like 120 mph off the bat."

Keuchel, who struck out a season-high six batters, gave up two runs on three hits and two walks. As much as he doesn't have much room for error with his 87-mph fastball, he has continued to make the case he can carve a role on a postseason roster.

"I feel like when the velo is not what I think it should be, I feel like my stuff actually moves more," Keuchel said. "I don't really necessarily worry about that."

Keuchel allowed three straight batters to reach base in the fourth inning, including back-to-back doubles from Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor. He pitched out of it with a double play, then pitched a clean fifth inning.

"I would like to go more than five [innings], but I know I kind of put it on Rocco there," Keuchel said. "It's September and we're playing some meaningful baseball, trying to lock up a division. And who knows, maybe fight for a two-seed."