Royce Lewis hits another grand slam as Twins' offense explodes in 10-6 win over Guardians

No team in the American League had allowed fewer home runs than the Cleveland Guardians. No team in the American League depends upon home runs for a larger share of its scoring than the Twins.

Rocco Baldelli's attitude? Bring it on.

"They're going to have to beat us at our game, and we're going to have to beat them at their game," the Twins manager said before the first of three important games against their chief AL Central pursuer. "Just do what your team does well."

Point taken. And, nine innings later, point made.

Matt Wallner and Jorge Polanco each smacked his 10th home run of the season Monday, and for the second consecutive day — a first in Twins history — Royce Lewis smashed a grand slam as the Twins rode that display of power to a 10-6 victory over Cleveland at Target Field.

"He's got a knack for some big things, so more to come," Baldelli marveled of Lewis' blast. "He just continues to do explosive, game-changing type of things. He's making this a pattern. Who knows what's coming next?"

Even Lewis, whose 10 home runs in his first 50 games — three of them grand slams — rank as third most in Twins history, can't wait to find out.

"It's so much fun. This team is so special," Lewis said. "I'm going out there and proving myself each and every day. This game is hard, so you're going to go through those times where it's tough, but you've got to enjoy the fun while you have it."

The victory, Minnesota's fourth in its past five games, widens the Twins' division lead over the Guardians to a season-high seven games with 30 left to play. And it allowed the Twins to shrug off Kenta Maeda's worst start since April.

But even that allowed another rookie to shine. Lefthander Kody Funderburk retired all six Guardians in his major league debut, three by strikeout, and received a standing ovation as he walked off the field.

"That's exciting. Everyone kind of dreams of a debut like that," said Funderburk, who didn't allow a ball out of the infield. "Two scoreless and getting the win, too, is big."

Funderburk is the first Twin since Fernando Romero in 2018 to earn a win in his debut, and he wasn't the only near-perfect rookie pitcher. Josh Winder relieved him and pitched three perfect innings to earn his first big league save.

It was a contrast to Maeda, who faced 20 batters and allowed eight to reach base and six to score. Guardians catcher Bo Naylor had the biggest blast, a two-run shot into the juniper vines beyond the center-field fence, forcing the Twins to overcome a large early deficit for the second consecutive day. Maeda has given up 12 runs in 13 innings over his past three starts.

But it didn't matter once the Twins' offense hit high gear against Guardians rookie Xzavion Curry. The righthander balked in a run in the second inning, then seemed to fall apart. He allowed a run-scoring hit by Donovan Solano, then walked Edouard Julien to load the bases for fellow rookie Lewis, Sunday's hero for smacking a deficit-narrowing grand slam against the Rangers.

Lewis didn't wait long. After taking a low-and-away strike, he zeroed in on a curveball on the outside corner, whacking it into Cleveland's bullpen as the announced crowd of 20,323 erupted.

"I was sitting on an off-speed pitch from the get-go. He threw me three fastballs, of course," Lewis said of his first at-bat, a pop out. "So I go back and just stuck to the same plan because at some point, he's got to come to me with the off-speed. Luckily enough for me, he hung it, and I was able to do some damage."