MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Royce Lewis homered in each of his first two at-bats, and the Minnesota Twins stopped an 18-game postseason losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in the opener of their AL Wild Card Series on Tuesday.
Lewis hit a two-run shot off Kevin Gausman in the first inning and a leadoff drive in the third, sending the home dugout and the sellout Target Field crowd into a frenzy.
The bigger celebration occurred a few hours later when Jhoan Duran pitched a hitless ninth to close the first victory in the playoffs for the Twins since Oct. 5, 2004. They had the longest postseason losing streak in major North American professional sports.
Pablo López (1-0) also delivered for Minnesota, permitting one run and five hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Gausman (0-1) surrendered three runs and three hits in four innings. He struck out five and walked three.
Game 2 is Wednesday afternoon.
The Blue Jays got on the board when Kevin Kiermaier’s two-out single drove in Bo Bichette in the sixth, but they left nine runners on base.
RANGERS 4, RAYS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jordan Montgomery scattered six hits over seven innings, helping the Rangers beat the sloppy Rays in their AL Wild Card Series opener.
Corey Seager and Josh Jung drove in runs and the Rangers benefitted from four errors by the Rays, who also fizzled offensively before a crowd of just 19,704 — roughly 5,300 below listed capacity — at Tropicana Field.
Texas moved within a victory of a AL Division Series matchup against Baltimore.
Tampa Bay, wearing throwback Devil Rays jerseys in the style of 1998-2000, lost its sixth straight postseason game since winning its 2021 Division Series opener against Boston.
Montgomery (1-0), a 30-year-old left-hander acquired from St. Louis at the trade deadline, struck out five and walked none.
Tampa Bay right-hander Tyler Glasnow (0-1) was charged with four runs, three earned, and six hits in five-plus innings. He struck out eight and walked five.
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