Royce Lewis is starting to become a Minnesota Twins legend in his playoff debut.
The Twins, hosting the AL Wild Card series against the Toronto Blue Jays starting with Game 1 on Tuesday, had an 18-game postseason losing streak coming into the matchup. The rookie Lewis helped change that with a legendary debut.
In his first at-bat, Lewis demolished a two-run home run, which scored Edouard Julien. This, on its own, was very clutch of him.
But in his second at-bat, he showed the potential to become the next Mr. October as he crushed another home run, this time a solo shot.
Lewis drove in all three of the Twins' runs on the day as he went 2-for-3 with the pair of long-balls and a walk on the day. That helped propel Minnesota to the 3-1 win, ending the playoff winless streak for the franchise and putting them in prime position to get to the ALDS.
Royce Lewis becomes immediate Twins legend to end playoff losing streak
Prior to the beginning of the playoffs, I delved into 10 under-the-radar players who could make a big impact on the MLB postseason. Royce Lewis was named in the No. 1 spot. So far, he isn't just living up to that billing -- he's making himself no longer "under-the-radar".
Lewis, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, came up massively in his playoff debut, despite having played just 70 big-league games in his career prior to Tuesday. He also put the Twins in the catbird seat to advance in the playoffs, winning Game 1 of the best-of-three set against Toronto.
Knocking around a multi-time All-Star in Kevin Gausman to propel a team without a postseason win in almost two decades is one heck of a way to start a playoff career. And this might just be the beginning for Royce Lewis.
