It seemingly wasn’t enough for Royce Lewis to break records—so he decided to break the stadium, too.
Lewis’ fifth-inning blast not only etched his name deeper into the Twins’ record books, but it also left a literal mark on Target Field. A large chunk of the ribbon video board on the second deck went dark for the rest of the game after being hit by his home run, serving as a lasting reminder of Lewis’ explosive power at the plate.
However, on Wednesday, this impressive feat wasn’t enough to save Lewis and the Twins from a 3-2 loss to the Rays. His costly throwing error in the top of the 10th inning allowed the go-ahead run, snapping Minnesota’s six-game winning streak and handing them only their second loss in the last 10 games.
“This sport can humble you very easily,” Lewis said. “I’m not going to let that define my day, my year, or who I am, because it was just unfortunate bad timing.”
It’s perhaps easier for Lewis to own the spotlight for that errant throw to first baseman Carlos Santana, which allowed Randy Arozarena to score in the 10th, because his career continues to be defined by the improbable feats he accomplishes at the plate. His most recent display of record-setting power left a mark—though he and the Twins didn’t realize it at the time.
They initially thought the blacked-out ribbon board above section 131 was a stadium malfunction. It wasn’t until after the game, when asked about Lewis’ feat in postgame interviews, that they connected the dots.
“Is that what happened? Did it break?” asked an incredulous Lewis.
Yes, it did—and you did it.
“I did notice it was out,” Lewis said. “I was thinking, ‘Man, they have to be really pissed off that it’s not working.’ I didn’t know it was from the homer, so that’s pretty cool.”
How did he not know? Hilariously, with the frequency of his home runs, Lewis doesn’t bother to watch them land anymore; he knows by the feel off the bat.
Lewis now has 25 homers in his first 84 career regular-season games, the most in club history and seven more than his nearest competition, Miguel Sanó. His eighth homer of the year surpassed Byron Buxton (2022) and Harmon Killebrew (1961) for the most in Twins history in the first 14 games of a season.
So, he just looks to the dugout to celebrate with his teammates as he starts his home run trot.
“No, you see it [land later] on TV,” Lewis said. “My thing is just to enjoy the game, have as much fun as possible. It’s a blessing to be here every day. I can watch it later. My friends can send it to me. Usually, my grandma on [social media].”
His teammates, caught up in the celebration, were also unaware of Lewis’ scoreboard destruction.
“What did he do now?” Austin Martin asked when queried about Lewis’ feat.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” Martin added with a chuckle. “That guy is a special type of talent. You don’t really see players like that every single day. So just being able to be here and see it in person is awesome.”
Lewis also had some defensive highlights, making a diving stop and strong throw to rob Yandy Díaz of a hit in the third and getting the Twins out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh by fielding a tricky grounder and beating the runner to third base.
But it’s his bat that continues to captivate—and, apparently, get destructive.
“When he finds the barrel, you hear that kind of piercing snap that you hear sometimes, but he finds the barrel more often than most,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “When it leaves the bat, a lot of the time, there’s not really a question.”
The piercing snap was followed by a dull thunk of cowhide on the electronic display on Wednesday—then, presumably, the sputter of said electronics as they went out.
Let’s hope the Twins have insurance for that.
“If I had to pay for that, that would be a lot,” Lewis said. “Hopefully not.”
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